Past Future Textile Design

A selection of unique textiles from the Andrea Aranow Collection at Textile Hive inspired my students to create their own fabric patterns for an exhibit at the Steven Goldman Gallery at The Art Institute of Portland. Field trips to the Textile Hive let students learn about extraordinary textiles in person. Back in the classroom, they used techniques of shibori, indigo dyeing, silkpainting, discharge printing, cyanotypes, applique, stencil printing, more natural and acid dyes to create their original fabrics in layers of processes.

This collaborative exhibit celebrated the launch of Textile Hive’s database and showed how the study of traditional textiles can inform and guide new designs.   Co-curated with Caleb Sayan at Textile Hive.

The legendary collector, Andrea Aranow, came from New York for the opening reception. Videos of her explaining pieces in the collection augmented the exhibit. Handmade textiles both old and new covered the walls for a rich interplay of color and pattern.