Taraxacum officinale

Taraxacum officinale

Dandelion, ‘Nieuwe Meer’ Amsterdam Spring 2021

I carefully dissected the Dandelion and brewed teas from all its parts to transfer the colour onto the silk. With the Dandelion, very pale yellow and creamy colours emerged. Only the seeds from the Dandelion fluff produced a bright yellow colour.

Metals, like iron can influence color as a mordant. In anthroposophic medicine, iron is a metal associated with breathing. It links the life-breathing of plants and animals (haemoglobin) and is connected to the breathing of the oceans (ferrum hydroxydatum). I am inspired by the idea that everything around us is animated and possesses its own forces through which it communicates with the surrounding world.

In the case of the Dandelion, I have taken the liberty of adding iron. I soaked the wearing tulle in a tea of Dandelion leaves and a bit of iron sulphate. The color that emerged was dark brown/green. I used the dark tulle as carrier of the light coloured portret.

The roots of the Dandelion extend 2.5 metres deep. This portrait has been embroidered at 50% of its actual size, based on the original rootdrawings by Prof. Lichtenegger and Dr Kutchera. The embroidery measures 1.6 metres in height and 1 metre in width.