Tina Benavente

MATERIAL/TECHNIQUE:
The nature of my work is driven by my love of all things textile. The idea of manipulating, dyeing, and refabricating textiles like quilting intrigues me at the same time challenges my creativity. Currently, my dye of choice is natural indigo. When I dye, the fabric usually starts out white or in its natural color. I usually use fibers like cotton, linen and silk. It is manipulated in a way to produce a unique, organic and ethereal work of art. Some of the manipulating techniques include: tying, binding, clamping, folding and capping- which means wrapping parts of fabric with plastic, wrap 7 & rubber bands to keep dye from penetrating fibers. Piecing & quilting is another form of fabrication that takes pieces of fabric, placed together and sewn in a cohesive way to produce yet another dynamic modern design. My choice of simple silhouettes for my garments are chosen to showcase the textiles that I have dyed or quilted. I like the textiles to be focal point of the garment.