Contemporary Batik

This contemporary batik was made in Mali in the 20th century out of cotton.

The ground cloth was mill-produced textured cotton damask. The textile artist added another design on top of this original pattern using wax resist. The artist applied wax to the textile through a plastic lace curtain, and then scrunched the wax cloth before dyeing it so hairline cracks would appear in the wax through which the dye can penetrate. Next, the cloth was tie-dyed with bold dark brown. Finally, the artist beat the cloth against river rocks to create a glazed effect on the surface of the textile.