Pre-Columbian Natural Dyes Ixchel Suarez
Huarmey textile band, medium horizon, circa 600-900 AD
Tapestry artist Ixchel Suarez joins us this month to talk the dyes used in pre-columbian woven tapestries. From Brittannica online:
Certain tapestry fragments have been found with 150 to 250 weft threads per square inch (60 to 100 per square centimetre). The warps of the tapestries are of undyed cotton, being, therefore, either white or brown. The wefts are of wool from the llama, guanaco, alpaca, or vicuña, with cotton sometimes used to obtain bright white. The tapestries are usually polychrome, for the range of available colours made with natural dyes was large.
Ixchel Suarez has been a textile and fibre artist for almost 40 years. Her practice explores material and concept, particularly in Tapestry, in non-conventional ways. Ixchel holds a Master’s Degree in Museum Studies (Iberoamericana University, Mexico City), a BA in Graphic Design & Art History (Anahuac University, MC), and Post-Graduate Studies in Contemporary Textiles in Łódź, Poland. She is the Founder and Director of Textil Creativo, Oakville Arts Studio and the not-for-profit Canadian Tapestry and Texture Centre, whose mission is to practice the integration of tradition, culture, and self-expression, through textile and interdisciplinary creative arts. She has presented many solo and group shows, and her work is shown in private and public collections in Europe, Central, and North America. www.ixchelsuarez.com
Weavers and Spinners Society of Austin is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. WSSA, P.O. Box 301167, Austin, Texas 78703
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