A TEXTILE STORY

A TEXTILE STORY & A CATALOGUE OF NATURAL PLANT DYES

Design Studio - Spring 2021 Bali, Indonesia Supervisor: Mariel Collard Arias Team: Naomi Julien Bali Global Studio Graduate Research Award Fu Global Studio Graduate Research Award

This body of work is the culmination of research done over the course of one term in a landscape-focused design studio. What began as a study of cotton and other farming practices in South-East Asia quickly became a preoccupation with cultural significance linked to the production of coloured textiles. By studying the ecological codependency between craftspeople in Bali and their local environments, we sought to highlight the beauty of sustainably coloured textiles by proposing an installation in a Balinese forest. Not satisfied with traditional architectural rendering methods, we decided to matters into our own hands and begin fabricating and documenting our own naturally dyed textiles. The result is an evocation calling for awareness of the beauty of sustainable textile production and the potential for architectural materials to be vessels for narrative and sustainability.