Blue Gold

Longtime UNS Member, Sharon Meyers, is currently studying ceramics in Japan for several months. This is a glimpse into her world and journey.

Konichjwa!

Indigo offers thousands of years of history as one of the oldest plant based dyes in the world. This vivid blue hue has been found in the wrappings of mummies in Egyptian tombs, for example. For centuries across Africa and Asia, indigo was so precious that it was called “black gold”, used both medicinally and in royal textiles.

This respect continues, as each year in Japan, indigo growers make an offering so that indigo will be preserved through their work for the coming seasons. On my day off from ceramics studio, I explored the alchemy of indigo from a sensei/ master of more than 70 years experience. Known locally as Okaasan/mother, she lives in Kayabuki-no-sato, the northern most village of Miyama, about two hours from Kyoto via two trains and a bus.

This village is known for its unique traditional thatched roof Kitayama style farm houses where villagers still reside and work the fields, and for the cultural heritage of ancient arts, including indigo. Enthused by the richness of indigo and varied ways of creating pattern with this natural dye, I have been collecting indigo textiles for decades: ikat and pura kunbu textiles from pasar malam/ night markets in Malaysian and Indonesian Borneo, bunta block printed bedding in India, festive Miao garments in China. I bartered my new white tee shirt for an indigo woven caftan in Tanzania, found intricate indigo weavings in early dawn temple markets in Laos. And now, to learn from a master that continues the tradition of shibori Japanese indigo dying? Oh yes!

Six techniques of shibori, which means “to weave and tie”, are still practiced in Japan. During my day with Okaasan, she teaches me two: itajime, a grid type effect from fabric that is folded, then stacked between two pieces of wood and kumo, spider like patterns from silk bound around river rocks or beans throughout a fabric length. As this village lies within a forest, along a river and is known for its black bean tea, we use local wood, rocks and dried beans. I ask her as politely as I am able, “Nani o shite imasuka/ What are you doing?”, as she closes her eyes while dipping the long swath of cotton she has just shown me how to wrap and bind, into a vat of deep blue. We are crouching on the floor of her workshop and it is cold – so cold that though we are inside and it is now snowing outside, we are still bundled in winter coats and hats. She replies, in English (!), “I am weaving time.”

Indeed, the art of indigo is the art of honoring the passage of time – growing the Kojyoko Japanese indigo plants; fermenting the leaves, extracting the dye; drying the liquid dye and grinding it into a powder; weaving the cotton or silk fabric; creating a pattern of resist through folding, wrapping or binding; preparing the indigo vats; dipping the fabric, rinsing and drying it; using the dyed fabric for garments, pillows to sit upon, noren wall hangings to reflect upon. Shibori artists say that they interpret this traditional process in the art they produce as linked by a common thread, for they are involved in each step in the journey of time from plant to product.

Omaasan gestures for me to now dip a swath of fabric, stir it and leave to saturate in the vat for 10 minutes, then dip it again in cool river water to rinse, and hang to dry. It is green! – but oxidizes to blue in the open air. My sensei’s hands and nails reveal that same indigo blue, dyed permanently by her long held dedication to her art. I wonder if my own skin will retain the blue for a while?

Nearby, Shindo offers both a workshop and museum of his own indigo collections, created over decades of contacts with others. He started like me, when he was in university. His life’s work is creating art with indigo, keeping appreciation of shibori alive through traveling exhibitions, including MoMA, New York. This seems incongruous, from such a humble space in such a small village, so distant from anything beyond his rural environs. In this, a 200 year old thatched roof house that is the oldest in Kayabuki-no-sato, he lives and creates his pieces on the ground floor, with a gallery on the second floor that is often open for viewing – what a thoughtfully collected and curated marvel of indigo across diverse cultures, patterns and even textures, reflecting the history of his indigo passion.

My own shibori pieces from today’s patient teachings are design basic, while indigo blue beautiful; this is just fine with me. I am in the presence of living history. That is enough!

Arigato,
Sharon

Images:

• Finding...and following my indigo sensei to her workshop.
• Found! Woven indigo shibori winter kimono (silk and cotton) of more than 100 year history, Toji Temple Market.
• Itajime shibori, learned from sensei, Omaasan, Kayabuki-no-sato.
• Local indigo and tree sculpture asking us to honor natural materials.