Name: Plants Worth Dyeing For : Backyard Chemistry for Natural Dyers
Start: 2025-10-26T10:00:00+08:00
End: 2025-10-26T11:30:00+08:00
Location: Tresillian Arts Centre

1 hour talk: Plants Worth Dyeing For : Backyard Chemistry for Natural Dyers
Presenter: Helen Coleman
PhD candidate, Curtin University
See how art and science can come together in the studio to assist artists, dyers and textile designers exploring natural materials. Helen will then take you into the world of tannin dyes and share her work on Marri gum as a dye for sustainable Australian fashion.
As public awareness of the environmental cost of global fast fashion increases, there is growing consumer support for sustainable, renewable and biodegradable alternatives to synthetic dyes. Embracing this change, Australian artists and textile designers are exploring natural colourants from our biodiverse flora - but developing new lightfast, washfast colours that meet the demands of today’s consumers is a huge challenge – and chemistry can help!
Using basic equipment and nontoxic mordants, Helen will show you how to test a variety of plants for their dye potential and explain why some botanical pigments are better than others for long-lasting colour. She will take you into the exciting world of dyeing with tannin, an abundant component of our local plants and share her research into natural dyes from Corymbia calophylla kino, commonly known as Marri gum. This presentation shows the potential of natural dyes to be part of a sustainable Australian fashion industry, with a takeaway invitation to consider making room for science in the art studio.
After the presentation, there will be time to catch up with your fellow members and enjoy a light refreshment.
Please purchase ticket in advance via this website or if you plan to pay on the day, cash only.