Feathered DREAMS
A bright flash of color in the jungles of Papua New Guinea. The vibrant displays of birds of paradise are like modern dancers, contorting their bodies into impossible shapes. The indigenous people introduced them as “divine birds” to Western explorers, and many myths swirled around them for centuries. Even in 2018, a new species was discovered, with feathers as dark as Vantablack pigment.
In researching birds of paradise, I found myself returning again and again to the image below. The bright colors of the display catch your eye at first, but upon repeated viewing, the textures of the overlapping feathers and change of feather shapes across the body are a beautiful rhythm. Choosing to use a single image for my inspiration was a challenge to myself to slow down and really think about the design I was seeing.
Repetition and change were the key design elements I chose to explore. The final collection of fabrics below all use the tuck stitch to create dimension in the knitted fabrics. The yarns vary from a fine monofilament to a stiff woolen single ply, and the resulting contrast captures both the density of plumage and the weightlessness of flight.
Fine monofilament expands outwards against a racked repetition
Wool crepe contracts against the structure of a woolen spun merino
Monofilament separates contrasting rows of spongy polyester and a wool mix
The bloom of monofilament is defined by a finished edge of cotton
Wool crepe and monofilament in the same feed make stitches crisp, while the elastic yarn structure peaks through in random bright blue
Velour yarn becomes tiny waves with a hidden elastic