Material Matters celebrates artisanal craftsmanship of four Malaysian artists, working in a rich variety of materials, including natural dye textiles and upcycled as well as bespoke furnishing. The four creators : Samsiah Jendol (Little Syam), Redzlina Abdul Wahab (RAW), Sweii Chong (Oh&Ah), and Ummi Junid (DuniaMotif), follow traditional craft techniques reworked to a contemporary context. The works speak to each other, placed within the open interiors of Gallery Residence, as testaments to expertise, function and beauty.
The project 'Re:Crafting Batik' is a combination of craft and contemporary practice.The technique combines free hand-drawn batik in the context of self-exploration using the canting method and natural dye.The creation of each piece display various line expression, and each piece are relatively connected. I'm obsessed with lines, and every stroke drawn is based on my pure thought and imagination.
I consider myself sitting in between the role of maker and crafter. I try to incorporate new ideas in batik and taking different step re-crafting and interpret batik base on my exploration but still maintaining the traditional process of wax application and dyeing.
Each piece is dyed multiple times using Indigo-fructose vat. Each dyeing process requires at least 30 to 45 minutes to making sure the dye pigment absorbed into the fibre.
I extracted the blue dye from a plant called Indigofera Tinctoria and plant, grow as well as harvest them on a small scale. I made these vat for personal research and experiment. Currently, I'm in the process of exploring ways to produce a natural print paste for the batik printing process. I hope by this practice, I can help sustain the Malaysia craft industry and together promote ethical and sustainable ways of making art or craft.
The project collection are now being exhibited at Shalini Ganendra Advisory ( SGA Gallery) from 16 January 2020.
It is a collective project combining 3 other crafters from different discipline. Please visit http://www.shaliniganendra.com/