Shibori:TheInventiveArtofJapaneseShapedResistDyeing

Potentialforcreatingdesignsintextilescanbeseeneveninthephysicalpropertiesofcloth.Thesimplefactthatclothtightlycompressedintowrinklesorfoldsresiststhepenetrationofdyeisanopportunity-anopportunitytoletthepliancyoftextilesspeakinmakingdesignsandpatterns.Peoplearoundtheworldhaverecognizedthisopportunity，producingresistdesignsintextilesbyshapingandthensecuringclothinvariouswaysbeforedyeing.YetinnoothercountryhasthecreativepotentialofthisbasicprinciplebeenunderstoodandappliedasithasinJapan.Here，infact，ithasbeenexpandedintoawholefamilyoftraditionalresisttechniques，involvingfirstshapingtheclothbyplucking，pinching，twisting，stitching，folding，pleating，andwrappingit，andthensecuringtheshapesthusmadebybinding，looping，knotting，clamping，andthelike.Thisentirefamilyoftechniquesiscalledshibori.Designscreatedwithshiboriprocessesallshareasoftnessofoutlineandspontaneityofeffect.Spontaneityisshibori'sspecialmagic，madepossiblebyexploitingthebeautyofthefortuitousthingsthathappenwhendyeentersshapedcloth.Usuallyitisinresponsetothefactthatacraftisbeinglostthattheneedforpreservinganddocumentingitarises.Themotivationbehindthisbookisnoexception，buttheauthorshavegonefarbeyondsimpledocumentation.ExtensiveresearchandexperimentationhaveledtotherevivalhereofshiboritechniquesthatwereoncewellknownbuthavenowbeenlargelyforgotteninJapan.Inadditiontomoreconventionaltechniques，theworkofcontemporaryfiberartistsinJapanandabroadinshiboritextileartandwearableartispresented，tosuggesttheextentofthecreativeinnovationpossible.The104colorand298black-and-whiteplatesincludeaphotographicGalleryofShiboriExamples，basedonJapan'slargestcollectionoftraditionalshiborifabrics.IncludedalsoareadetailedguidetobasicnaturaldyesusedinJapan，themakingandcareofanindigovat，andalistofsuppliersinNorthAmerica，aswellasaglossaryandbibliography.Nowavailableinpaperback，thisfulldocumentationofoneoftheworld'smostinventiveandexcitingdyeingtechniquescontinuesasaclassicinthetextilefield.