Carys Ann Hamer

Artist’s Statement

I have always lived in countries with a long textile heritage.  My childhood in Wales was surrounded by Welsh tapestries and coverlets.  As a young adult living in Africa I dressed and decorated using the cloths of the Bemba tribe of Zambia, the Ovambo of Namibia and the Ndebele of South Africa.  Later, I lived in Indonesia and spent time studying the exquisite and intricate ikat, batik, sonket and geringsing cloths of this area.  My work and I have been greatly influenced by living among these various cultures

I worked as a chemist in Zambia and analyzed compounds using   chromatography and spectrography.  My work involved the continuous comparison and evaluation of colors and their concentrations.  During this time I developed my love for color and eventually an affinity for dyeing.

I am now using natural dyes and pigments in my work.  I use combinations of osage orange, weld, logwood, cochineal, madder and lac extracts over dyed with indigo.   These dyes are grown and harvested with little or no environmental impact under the direction of Master Dyer, Michele Wipplinger of Earthues.  I also paint with ochres and pigments that have been used for centuries to color and draw on caves, walls and textiles.  I feel these dyes and pigments are safer for the environment and they give a wonderful range of naturally blending colors.

The resists I apply and the textures I get are also used by many of the cultures in the areas of the world where I have lived.  This link reminds me of the many creative and wonderful men and women I have had the pleasure to live and work with

This year I have spent some time in France studying with Michele Garcia and Denise Lambert.  Michele Garcia is the founder of the Lauris Natural Dye garden in the South of France and is an innovative dyer.  Denise Lambert is the founder of Bleu de Lectoure whose company produces woad, the European Indigo, on a large scale.  I am now using woad on many of my silks.

FOLIAGE AND BLOOMS

Spring is a wonderful time to take a walk through the woods.  There are piles of old leaves underfoot, ferns and fiddleheads peeping through the soil and the first flowers of spring budding and blooming.

These floral images inspired the red, purple and pink dyes in my fabrics.  The fabrics were then put together Pojagi style and made into a kimono and scarves.

Another series of scarves were designed using the fern, fiddlehead and bracken motifs, dyed with the bright greens of early spring and accented with bronze and gold.

The piles of decomposed leaves on the woodland floor suggested the forms and colors of the series of deconstructed printed shawls.

WEARABLE ART

My garments are produced and consumed at a slower pace.  The fabrics are designed and dyed using natural dyes, ochres and pigments.  The dyes are put on layer by layer each needing to be cured for weeks before the next application.  The stitch resists are time consuming but the design does not have the look and feel of machine production.  There is always the kink or tweak of a hand produced fabric.  I incorporate beautiful old silks, laces and nets that are dyed and reworked giving them new life.  Some beads, sequins and hand embroidery give these garments the final glitz.

Galleries and Exhibits

Brackenwood Gallery, Langley, WA.

Columbia City Gallery, Seattle.  Pojagi Now: Contemporary Interpretations of the Korean Wrapping Cloth

Earthues Natural Dye Studio, Seattle

Rags Wearable Art Show, Tacoma, WA.

Surface Design Association, Traveling Members Show.  2006 to 2010.