Silk Scrolls - The Weaver

Here is another chapter of my artwork: painted Silk Scrolls.
These scrolls are very decorative – the series is therefore called “Ornaments”.
Reminiscent of ancient Chinese or Japanese scroll paintings their construction yet is completely different and has been developed by myself. While traditional Japanese and Chinese silk scrolls are made from very thin painted silk, that is glued to paper which again is normally covered by patterned silk, my scrolls consist of 3 layers of fabric and no paper at all.

The middle piece is constructed like a quilt with a layer of very thin batting between the top layer which is the painted silk and the back. Headpiece and footpiece are normally made from silk as well, which has been fused to a thin layer of rayon fabric.

“The Weaver”
65″ x 21″, Silk Scroll

First the middle piece has been created. Starting with a detailed drawing, this has been tranferred to the silk (Habotai) and then painted. After this was finished, the batting was fused to the silk. In the next steps the headpiece and the footpiece were created, using stencils (my own) for painting the ornaments which were supposd to look like batik. This was meant as an hommage to the outstanding textile and batik work of southeast Asian countries such as Indonesia.

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After finishing all these steps, all 3 pieces were sewn together, backing was added and then closed at the small side.
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The last step was machine quilting the middle piece. This pattern should symbolize a heirloom, the one this mysterious young woman is working at. Therefore the title of this scroll: The Weaver. Her face should be reminiscent of all those female textile artists of southeast Asia who create crafts of extraordinary beauty and workmanship..

Different from the Chinese and Japanese painted scrolls where the dowels are glued to the paintings themselves I have created something different: the fabric has been sewn to the back in order to form a little sleeve so that the dowel can be pushed in but also removed again. This gives more freedom in regard of hanging this scroll. Thus it is also possible to mount it on stretcher bars instead, without damaging the painting and mount the middle piece on a stretcher frame with or without additional frame - see examples below:

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