Ethel Stein (American, 1917-2018)
United States
Indigo 23
INV-2135
Ethel Stein (American, 1917-2018)
United States1988
textileweaving - printed
Date
1988
Medium
Cotton, warp resist dyed (warp ikat) satin damask weave; woven on a loom with a drawloom attachment fabricated by the artist
Dimensions
88.2 × 91.1 × 0.6 cm (34 3/4 × 35 7/8 × 1/4 in.)
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Location
Chicago, IL
Credit
Gift of Ethel Stein
The beautiful modulation of tone found here, both within the indigo and also in the feathered area where blue warps transition into white, results from the use of the ikat technique. This involves dyeing warps (usually the vertical element on the loom) in a resist process and/or wefts (interlaced with the warps, usually horizontal on the loom) according to a predetermined pattern before the weaving takes place. In the case of this work, only the warps have been resis-dyed. Stein has an indigo vat in her cellar and does her own ikat dyeing.
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