Peculiar Creature
“AS A TEXTILE DESIGNER, I LOVE THE PATTERNS ON BUTTERFLIES. IT STARTED WITH THAT. SO I GOT BOOKS ON BUTTERFLIES, LOOKED AT ALL THE DIFFERENT PATTERNS ON THEM, AND THOUGHT, WELL, EVERYONE DOES BUTTERFLIES. SO I DECIDED, I’LL DO MOTHS! BECAUSE I THINK MOTHS ARE JUST AS BEAUTIFUL.”
Creating a Surface
K. came up with her own inventive method of printing images on fabric, by carving linoleum blocks into stamps. She pairs this laborious process, which allows for her fascination with flora and fauna to find full expression, with the equally meticulous stippling of her fabric with wash-proof paints, to form a full-bodied surface design of her fabrics.
It is this yin-yang of the freeform and precision which brings her garments to life, and it is sometimes easy to forget that something that looks so lifelike is actually the result of the hand rather than machine. K's illustration background is put to good use in her rendering of her block stamps. First she draws the image onto the linoleum with a permanent marker, providing a guide for the carving process. Then, she carves out the design, etching and teasing the outline and textures with various tools. It is a negative-space method, meaning that uncarved areas apply the paint, while the parts that are carved out give definition.