From Nature to Human Hands

We attended a natural exhibit from the hands of Regina Benson. Her pieces use various techniques to achieve the end results. She will take black fabric to “discharge” the color. There are ways to do this with certain pastes. She will use soy wax resists and Shibori techniques to enhance the fabric texture; then she over dyes or rusts the fabric surface several times with natural and acid dyes. The unusual markings are then over sewn with free-motion stitches using hand-dyed threads. Sometimes she will intensify the fabric with encaustic or burning processes.
Here are some samples of her work in progress. This piece is wrapped around PVC pipe before being discharged.
Examples of stitched or shibori fabric after discharge.
Here is bowl of soy wax shavings. Her note says that soy wax is derived from plants and more earth friendly than bee wax or paraffin.
This piece is entitled "Night Bloom"; it is dyed, discharged on snow, layered and stitched.
Entitled "Ablaze", this pieces is dyed, resisted discharge, layered, stitched and burned.
"Solar Storm"--dyed, discharged on snow, soy wax resisted, stitched and burned.
"Breaking Ground"--rusted (who would have thought that age of rust will give us a nice color), discharged, pieced, layered, burned and stitched.
"Unearthed" is another rusted piece, soy wax resisted, pieced, layered, stitched and burned.
This was truly a favorite--"Baltic Seaside" dyed, discharged with reeds and stones, painted, layered, stitched.
This large installation was eye catching! "Amber Grove"--dyed, shibori discharged, embossed with leaves and twigs, stitched and burned.
"Twilight at Sea" is a very colorful hanging. Techniques used--dyed, discharge on grass, re-dyed, painted, layered, stitched.
And before you enter the exhibit area, you are greeted with this wonderful exhibit of three large hangings. From this angle it's hard to see the other two, but all three were discharged.
What an appealing show--well worth the time and visit to the Botanic Garden Exhibit Hall.