Ripples on the Lake

 
On the shore of a quiet lake, no one is present.
Faint ripples appear on the surface of the water, spreading gently before dissolving once more into stillness.
 
Woven from silk and kudzu fibre, this work brings together shades of deep blue, soft green, grey and pale yellow.
All the colours were created using natural dyes: indigo, gardenia and Japanese alder.
 
The warp threads are patterned using the traditional warp-kasuri technique.
Because the threads are resist-dyed before weaving, the fine stripes shift subtly as they travel through the cloth.
 
These delicate variations evoke the faint movement of ripples across the lake, disturbed perhaps by a breath of wind or something unseen beneath the surface.
 
Rather than depicting a particular landscape, this work seeks to capture the atmosphere of a secluded lake deep within a forest: the clear, open space among the trees, the depth and transparency of the water, and the profound silence surrounding it.
 
The cloth rises, curves and unfolds like the surface of the lake itself, holding within it a quiet movement that appears and disappears.
 

Making Kasuri Threads