Blog @ Gaia’s Echo
On Facebook @ Irit Dulman, Felt, Textile, Nature
The following text was written by Ori Drumer.
 |
| Irit Dulman, Tattoos |
"Looking at Irit’s works - the colors, prints, textures and fabrics – one finds magic. It is everywhere: in the dyed felt, in objects that Irit designs and the natural dyes she produces herself. It is also present in the body movement of the women who wear her garments, the fabric textures, images and different times that are mixed into each other. History, memories, transparency and flexibility are all here. The fabrics are the delicate skin, the prints with leaf and root images are living body tattoos, the warm hues are the earth and the forests. The mind, dreamy delicacy and animal savagery all combine.
 |
| Irit Dulman, shibori felt dress with bark texture |
Irit is like the alchemists of old.
The dense fantasy in the fabrics she creates contains elements of air, water,
earth and fire that blend together, and one could almost see primeval forest
creatures, fairies and elves. As the eye rests on the textures and scans the
fabric, one cannot help remembering fairy tales of earlier centuries, Tolkien’s
fantasy worlds, fantasy literature and contemporary comics, gothic. As one’s
gaze rests on woolen, silk and felt fabrics, a sense of erotic femininity and
sexuality takes over in primal animalist seduction. Irit creates her fabric works
out of natural materials. She produces the dyes from tree leaves, bark, roots and
flowers. She studies the eucalyptus tree and it plays a central role in her
work. From it she also produces the dyes which she prepares herself, using the
leaves, flowers, buds and bark as patterns for the prints. Irit says that her
study of the eucalyptus tree stems, first of all, “from my deep sympathy with
it”, and from its presence in her homeland, Israel . The local landscape is rich
with eucalyptus trees, in a variety of species. This tree was imported from Australia
in the early 20th century and served the first Jewish settlers to
drain the swamps and till the land. For
them it was the tree of life, a tree that immigrated to a land of immigrants,
was acclimatized and fitted in. Irit’s own roots are in Eastern Europe as a
daughter of an immigrant family, and this bond connects her to this particular
tree that migrated to the Land
of Israel
Irit Dulman, Eucalyptus dyed felt dress
Note from Pat: Irit has begun traveling and teaching workshops in felting and eco-dyeing. We met through Facebook where there is a large network of fiber artists devoted to natural methods and materials and eco printing who have found inspiration in India Flint, another of the artists who will be in this show.
Coincidently, Irit, Fabienne and I were recently invited by artist/author Wendy Feldberg of Canada to be part of an article included in the Summer 2013 issue of Fiber Art Now magazine. You can see my post on it at Sentimental Pentimento. It's a feast for the eyes and a great read. Available in bookstores now nationwide and by subscription. (Just Google the magazine, I won't post the link due to possible spam issues for this blog).
Images and statement courtesy the artist. Work shown here will not necessarily be exhibited in FTIO.
No comments:
Post a Comment