Iris Sullivan Daire

 

Joe Garrison with Navigation

Red Winged Blackbird

Duck egg… or possibly Eau de Nil

Silkie Songs - indigo paste paper

Colors of Persicaria

Honored Guest panel

Horseshoe flags, and rust print backing cloth for Honored Guest & Instructions panels - together they creates a portal between two sides of the gallery.

Covers of the Hedgewitch Diaries

Interior of Hedgewitch Diaries

Icon for Saint Steller’s Jay, Patron of Indigo Dyers

 

Iris Sullivan Daire

Studio Location:: Astoria, Oregon

Titles for pieces and their location:

  • Matrix: Red Winged Blackbird, Duck egg… or possibly Eau de Nil, Paste

  • Off Grid: Hand-work, Saint Steller’s Jay, Nests, Hedgewitch Diaries, Colors of Persicaria, Deeper Well, Honored Guest, Instructions, Horseshoes,

  • Installation: Navigation

Materials Used: Indigofera tinctoria from Stony Creek Colors, homegrown Persicaria tinctoria, Cotton, silk, handmade paper, beeswax, pine board…

Primary Techniques piece by piece:

  • Red Winged Blackbird - Soy-lime paste resist on linen, Indigold vat

  • Duck egg… or possibly Eau de Nil -Matelassé. Chiffon and Habotai silks dyed with fresh Persicaria tinctoria leaves - salt method.

  • Silkie Songs - starch paste paint using homegrown Persicaria tinctoria pigment on handmade thai paper. Traditional paste paper technique.

  • Hand-work - Stitch shibori on organic color grown cotton gingham, salvaged cotton gloves dyed in an iron vat.

  • Saint Steller’s Jay Icon - Indigo dyed organic cotton, silk screened clay paste resist, gold leaf, encaustic, copper tape.

  • Nests - Flax fiber and silk cocoons from Two Looms in Omak Washington, dyed with homegrown Persicaria tinctoria

  • Hedgewitch Diaries - Wall Books- dyed paper collage on hinged canvases made using itajime and dip dyed papers, some of which are handmade and botanically printed with leaves and flowers prior to indigo. Encased in encaustic resin.

  • Colors of Persicaria - Paste painted canvas with silk samples using alternative processes with homegrown Persicaria tinctoria leaves.

  • Deeper Well - repurposed map stand, cotton gauze, cotton sample strips, and 3 kilos of dried Persicaria tinctoria leaves. stitch shibori medallion by artist Marian Martínez González 

  • Honored Guest - Soy Paste resist on linen using hand cut stencils. Backing cloth is rust printed organic cotton.

  • Instructions - Soy Paste resist on linen using hand cut stencils. Backing cloth is rust printed organic cotton.

  • Horseshoes - clamp resist and rust printed salvaged cotton.

  • Installation: Navigation -setting sail to our benevolent Future: Installation built by Iris Sullivan Daire & Joe Garrison. A boat with indigo dyed cloth sail, and navigation scrolls. Boat made of bent wood and coppiced hazel with deck of antique fir ironing board. Sail of vision strips with additional itajime and clay paste resist samples. The sail and scrolls are sewn from strips inscribed with the collective visions for a positive future contributed by over 130 individuals. The inscribed cloth strips were collected at community events throughout 2022, and dyed in indigo by a group of 4 homeschool children that Iris works with. This portion of the exhibit features a participatory component, collecting more future vision sample strips from gallery visitors for future incarnations of the project.

Types of Vat: fermentation vats, fresh leaf process, iron vats, indigold vat…

Artist Bio: Iris is an installation artist, naturalist dyer, and workshop facilitator who lives with her family near the Columbia River in Astoria Oregon. She finds comfort and joy in the natural world. She is the curator of the Indigo Matrix.

Iris holds a BFA from the University of Oregon in Fibers, with a focus on natural dyes. Her personal art business is Dream Bird Studio, and she is a founder of Indigofest along with Britt Boles, which offers education experiences around natural indigo. She especially enjoys collaborating with her husband Joe Garrison, with whom she eloped in 1995. He built the boat for the Navigation installation.

Artist Statement: Indigo speaks of boundaries, protection and healing. Dyeing with indigo is a process of accepting what is, and centering in what is possible when we nurture each other.