"Shibori" is a Japanese word for a variety of ways of embellishing textiles by shaping cloth and securing it before dyeing
it. It's a matter of manipulating cloth and working with it in a three dimensional way by holding, crumpling, stitching, plaiting
or twisting and then binding the cloth to create a resist to the dyes. An element of suprise is always inherent in the shibori process.
I have been a shibori artist since 1969, only then it was called "tie-dye." In the fall of 1981 I took a workshop, "Japanese Dyeing Techniques,"
from my teacher, Yoshiko Wada. A few years earlier, while researching Japanese textiles, Ms. Wada had discovered the last remaining
family in the country, in the rural village of Arimatsu, near Nagoya, that was still using a pole-wrapping process known as "arashi" shibori,
or "storm-over-water" after a common pattern that can be achieved.
The process was invented by Suzuki Kanezo in the late 1800's to try to revitalize the textile based economy of his home town, Arimatsu. For a time,
arashi dyed cloth was very popular and Arimatsu thrived. But when Ms. Wada was there in the late 1970's, arashi shibori was almost a lost art.
I have been a shibori artist since 1969, only then it was called "tie-dye." In the fall of 1981 I took a workshop, "Japanese Dyeing Techniques,"
from my teacher, Yoshiko Wada. A few years earlier, while researching Japanese textiles, Ms. Wada had discovered the last remaining
family in the country, in the rural village of Arimatsu, near Nagoya, that was still using a pole-wrapping process known as "arashi" shibori,
or "storm-over-water" after a common pattern that can be achieved.
The process was invented by Suzuki Kanezo in the late 1800's to try to revitalize the textile based economy of his home town, Arimatsu. For a time,
arashi dyed cloth was very popular and Arimatsu thrived. But when Ms. Wada was there in the late 1970's, arashi shibori was almost a lost art.
