Every Sunday, Botanical Colors sits down for an interview with a luminary in the natural dye and textile world. This week on Sunday Visit we welcome textile artist and author Christi Johnson.
Christi’s textile studio is based in the foothills of the Catskills in New York. The studio provides functional pieces that are thoughtfully made, as well as serves as a platform to teach skills in sewing, embroidery, and natural dyeing . Her book Mystical Stitches explores embroidery as a tool for personal empowerment and magical embellishment. Speaking of magical things, you can grab a copy of Mystical Stitches plus free hemp fabric here while it lasts!
Let’s settle in and get to know Christi…
What’s your first memory of stitching? Creating with textiles was so deeply ingrained in me that calling up this memory feels like trying to remember my first memory of eating, or swimming, because I can’t recall any of my early stitches. I do know it was at a very young age, thanks to my mother who always had some knitting or sewing project going on as I grew up. I can, however, recall taking fabric scraps and using a hot glue gun and some metallic foil and making a dress with “rhinestones” all over it for a doll of mine.
How has your journey in stitching, making and dyeing evolved over the years? My stitches have always been a little messy, a little imperfect, so I feel like I spent much of my younger years trying to make my work look higher quality by imitating traditional methods with precision (and getting frustrated doing so). As I grew up and found more and more acceptance with where my work was at, I embraced the imperfections. This was perhaps the most pivotal discovery in my work – that the imperfections were evidence of human hands that I also admire in other work, and I hope that people can admire in my work.
That said, I started off wanting my own line of clothing from a very young age, I even sold a couple dozen skirts I made to a store when I was in high school, but I always had a hard time making two (or more) of the same thing. I especially had a hard time working with manufacturers- the timelines, the inconsistencies, the minimums – so eventually I gave up and just celebrated that my creations were one of a kind, with human imperfections; and as people became more curious about this style, I realized that this openness to mistakes was actually something the world wanted to hear more about, and I started adding this element to my teaching in both embroidery and clothing design.
So while I guess I started as a kid just wanting to emulate playful and funky clothing brands like Betsey Johnson and Anna Sui, where I’m at now is encouraging makers to loosen up, allow themselves to play and explore their mediums, and through this, develop their own personal style – a slightly different take on that same playfulness.
Talk about the significance of sacred imagery from the past and why it’s so relevant in 2023.
Well, there’s this idea that we have evolved into this technological state, this information era, but actually as a species, people have simply *adapted* to this technological era – not evolved. What we evolved to over many thousands of years was a species that understood and communicated via symbols, in imagery and also symbolism in a narrative sense. So I think that symbols can be a way to connect us to our inner knowledge that we maybe wouldn’t be able to find in the (in my opinion, often over intellectualized) written word. I believe we can form deeper understandings through seeing a concept illustrated in images and symbols.
What’s a color you’re gravitating towards right now and why do you think that is?
I’m such a color lover, I can’t pick just one – but there’s a few that I’m constantly trying to nail in just the right hue. Like in my mind formulating the dye recipe that would nail the precise color I envision. I’m especially drawn to certain combos right now. Slightly acidic mustard yellow – like the color you get from marigolds edged with red, which often give a little bit of a greenish hue – is always my favorite, it somehow feels both bright and warm, and also deep and moody. At this moment though, I find myself especially loving this shade combined with cobalt blue. I’m also drawn to lilac, I grew Bernary’s giant lilac zinnias for the third year in a row and the bright pinkish purple just sings to my heart! I see it being a combination of logwood and lac or cochineal. The combination of this pastel with a rich wine red, like the deepest of madder root shades, is on my list of dye projects for some of my winter wools that need a refresh.
Want to channel all things mystical and empower yourself as a maker and stitcher (even if imperfect)? Grab a copy of Christi’s Mystical Stitches and get some free vintage hemp fabric to practice on! Go here.