Garden Series: Madder
- Title
- Garden Series: Madder
- Date
- 2020
- Dimensions
- 39” x 48”
- Media
- Handwoven textile utilizing cotton and linen yarns. The fabric incorporates woven shibori resist. Alum and iron mordants, dyed with madder root (Rubia tinctorium) sourced from the artist’s garden.
Madder is a “mordant dye” when used on cellulose fiber. A mordant must be applied to the textile before the dye. The dye then attaches to the mordant.
The use of an alum mordant results in the purest color of the dye – in this case the most brilliant red. Iron is used as a mordant to darken and “sadden” colors. When used in combination with madder, purple tones can result.
Alum, iron, or a combination of the two mordants were applied to each of the individual woven panels in this textile using a woven shibori resist. Once the mordant was properly “fixed” on the textiles, all the panels were dyed together in a single immersion dyebath. As a result of the differing mordant applications, the textiles display a range of color from brilliant red to deep purple.