In my practice, textiles develop through a combination of processes and techniques, both traditional and modern. I have spent many years exploring the application of natural dyestuffs - indigo and minerals - but my approach is never that of a purist. In contrast to the many accomplished master dyers who I have encountered in India, Japan and Central Europe, my approach is experimental rather than orthodox; ideas are the driving force.

Here we focus on dying using a natural Indigo dye with the cold technique. I will use paraffin, honey candle, rosin and salidol. Unified mass is made from the ingredients listed above. Working process consists of following steps: we place these ingredients into a special device, which is connected to an electric oven, materials become homogenous after heating, using wooden molds hot mass is placed on a silk or cotton stretched on the table.

My current work is done using Shibori painting technique. Dyeing with Shibori technique gives a vivid, colorful effect. The composition is associated with the theme of the “blue tablecloth”.

I made these pieces by utilizing the combination of cold dyeing and printing technology. I pre-soaked one silk fabric and three cotton fabrics in water saturated with caustic sodium carbonate for 24 hours. After drying, I tied the four fabrics separately in different shapes and prepared them for dyeing.

Indigo is unique in the history of world textiles. As an extract of indigofera tinctoria and other related plant species, its process of fermentation is organic - it is a living substance. Reluctant to penetrate deeply into fibres, indigo is both dye and pigment, colouring cloth while developing a residue on its surface.

During thirty years of practice, I have encountered resistant materials in dye workshops from Central Europe to Asia. It is the pastes that have proved to be the most fascinating. Whether printed from a block, or painted with a brush or squeegee, it has been difficult to understand their complexities, and to control the subtlety of their substances on cloth.

The project and the series of workshops are related to the theme of Georgian blue tablecloths. The first work created by me was developed using the essential ornaments that are dominant in the tablecloths.