MEDIA RELEASE

Sculpted Surface
textile sculptures by Japanese and American artists and designers
selected by Melbourne fashion designers S!X

YOSHIKO IWAMOTO WADA, JUNICHI ARAI, HIROYUKI SHINDO, HIROKO WATANABE,
LESLEY NISHIGAWARA, ELISA LIGON, LINDA LEE KERR, YUH OKANO, CAROLINE BARTLETT

20 March – 18 April 2004

Lesley Nishigawara Mokume - positive Silk organza, shibori, tea stained, burnt, stitched

Sculpted Surface is a selection of textile sculptures using or inspired by the traditional Japanese pleating and dyeing techniques of shibori. They are the creations of prominent Japanese and American artists and designers including Yoshiko Wada, president of the World Shibori Network, Junichi Aria who has produced fabrics for Issey Miyake and Comme des Garçons, and textile artists such as Lesley Nishigawara, Elisa Ligon and Linda Lee Kerr.

The works have been selected by Denise Sprynskyj and Peter Boyd the designers behind experimental Melbourne fashion label S!X. Primarily known for deconstructing tailoring and recycling, S!X's enthusiasm for shibori is an extension of their interest in the innovative use of traditional techniques and craft practices.

S!X see the sculpted surfaces in this exhibition as "creating imagined spaces which a body can inhabit, an environment spun or woven from textiles and transformed using the Japanese pleating technique of shibori". "These artists" say S!X "respond to the tactile surface of the cloth much like painters interact with canvas, colour and form. Their work ranges from the employment of centuries old traditional methods to sophisticated technology, from painstaking handiwork to digital manipulation."

The artists and designers in Sculpted Surface have squeezed, scrunched, wrung, pressed, clamped, folded, pleated, wrapped, poked, tied and dyed materials ranging from brown paper bags to metallic threads and silk cloth. Shibori is a technique of forces which transforms a two-dimensional surface into a three-dimensional sculpted surface.

Sculpted Surface is a 2004 L'Oreal Melbourne Fashion Festival exhibition held in conjunction with the RMIT Symposium ‘Intermesh' and the 5th World Shibori Symposium and includes artists from the World Shibori Network.

Gallery Hours are Tuesday – Friday 1.00 – 6.00pm. For further information and/or images please contact Linden Director Amy Barrett-Lennard on 9209 6794 or email director@lindenarts.org

SCULPTED SURFACE PUBLIC PROGAMS

ILLUSTRATED LECTURE BY HIROKO WATANABE

4pm Sunday 21 March
Linden, 26 Acland Street St Kilda
Free

Hiroko Watanabe is Professor emeritus of the Tama Art University in Tokyo, President of the Textile Design Association of Japan and a committee member of the World Shibori Network. She has received a number of prestigious awards and commissions and has been exhibiting her textile works internationally since 1961.

FLOOR TALK BY EXHIBITION CURATORS, MELBOURNE FASHION DESIGNERS S!X

4pm Sunday 4 April
Linden, 26 Acland Street, St Kilda
Free

S!X is a Melbourne based fashion label founded by Denise Sprynskyj & Peter Boyd. Known primarily for their interest in deconstructing tailoring, decorative surface treatments and recycling, they have exhibited in Tokyo and Paris and show regularly at Mercedes Australian Fashion Week and The Melbourne Fashion Festival. S!X are co-chairs of the 5th International Shibori Symposium.

SHIBORI WORKSHOP FOR ADULTS WITH COLLEEN WESTE

10am – 4pm Sunday 28 March
Linden, 26 Acland Street, St Kilda
Cost: $60, includes some materials and lunch
Bookings essential ph (03) 9209 6794 or email admin@lindenarts.org

Colleen Weste, a textile artist specialising in Shibori, will lead an all day workshop aimed to give participants an overview of the historical and contemporary applications of Shibori from around the world and a hands on introduction to four main Shibori techniques; arashi, itajime, nui and nemaki. Cloth is wrapped, pleated, stitched, folded, and dyed to create effects using French, reactive and indigo dyes.

SHIBORI WORKSHOP FOR CHILDREN WITH LILLIAN JOSEVSKA

10am – 12pm Tuesday 6 April
Linden, 26 Acland Street, St Kilda
Ages: 9 – 12 years
cost: $20, includes some materials
Bookings essential ph (03) 9209 6794 or email admin@lindenarts.org

Award winning fashion graduate Lillian Josevska has been involved in a number of fashion and textile exhibitions and has been a special guest on channel 10's children's programThe Big Arvo. Lillian will lead workshop participants through the history and evolution of Shibori and show some modern day applications. She will demonstrate Shibori processes and allow the participants to experiment and create objects using simple origami and dying techniques.