Natural Dyes
Abigail Shuster
Cotton, natural dye
2022
Abby Shuster is an artist and designer living in Brooklyn, New York. She is an MFA candidate at Pratt Institute, working towards a degree in communications design. She previously received a BA from the University of Vermont, with dual studies in sociology and applied design. Her background in sociology continues to inform her design practice. Abby’s main focus is on the re-earthing of aesthetics, looking at ways the centering of joy and abundance in aesthetic choices are congruent with channels for sustainability. Using a feminist based practice, she seeks to interrogate social structures that underscore mainstream sustainability narratives, making visible the ways in which alternative narratives can uplift marginalized voices. Her methods range from material exploration, to print media, to digital visualizations.
She recently participated in the Pratt X DSKD design challenge, collaborating with a group of international students to imagine covid-era endemic design solutions. She is the recipient of multiple merit based scholarships including awards from the Package Designers Council, the Coyne Family Foundation for visual communications, and the Longyear Scholarship for Art and Design. Abby’s work Saturated was recently displayed in Pratt’s Graduate Inquiries Exhibition.
www.abigailshuster.com
Abigail Shuster
Cotton, natural dye
2022
Abby Shuster is an artist and designer living in Brooklyn, New York. She is an MFA candidate at Pratt Institute, working towards a degree in communications design. She previously received a BA from the University of Vermont, with dual studies in sociology and applied design. Her background in sociology continues to inform her design practice. Abby’s main focus is on the re-earthing of aesthetics, looking at ways the centering of joy and abundance in aesthetic choices are congruent with channels for sustainability. Using a feminist based practice, she seeks to interrogate social structures that underscore mainstream sustainability narratives, making visible the ways in which alternative narratives can uplift marginalized voices. Her methods range from material exploration, to print media, to digital visualizations.
She recently participated in the Pratt X DSKD design challenge, collaborating with a group of international students to imagine covid-era endemic design solutions. She is the recipient of multiple merit based scholarships including awards from the Package Designers Council, the Coyne Family Foundation for visual communications, and the Longyear Scholarship for Art and Design. Abby’s work Saturated was recently displayed in Pratt’s Graduate Inquiries Exhibition.
www.abigailshuster.com
The fashion sector is notoriously one of the least sustainable industries worldwide, contributing in enormity to the degradation of the planet. Fletcher and Tham summarize, “Each stage within the lifecycle of fashion is associated with environmental and social costs” (2019). This project harnesses the power of both Kombucha leather and natural fabric dying to reimagine a woven bag.
A culture surrounding high-end bags has equated the purses with a status symbol. At the same time, bags are one of the first objects invented by humans. Ursula Le Guin even argues that carrying a bag is perhaps one of the most human things we can do— utilitarian in its purpose of gathering, saving, sharing— ubiquitous across cultures, a method for survival (Le Guin, 1986). So, although their significance within society has changed astronomically, the bag’s utilitarian nature renders it an object I don’t soon expect will go defunct.
People need bags. Instead of encouraging people to stop using bags, I propose we lean into the theme of material connection to reimagine what an ethically and sustainably produced— but still aesthetically pleasing bag might look like.
I imagine a bag that utilizes 2 different material metamorphosis techniques. First, it harnesses Kombucha leather, growing large planes on baking sheets. The leather is dried, then cut into strips. The strips are then sewn between layers of 100% organic cotton fabric. Fabric is dyed using a combination of food scraps and waste including leftover turmeric powder, scraps from red beets and purple cabbage. Once dyed, the fabric is also cut into strips, to create the reinforced, ready to weave bands of color. Bands are woven together into 5 segments (4 walls and 1 bottom of the bag), and stitched into their final form using a strong hemp yarn, making the piece functional for delicate use.
Modern, capitalist culture normalizes high contrast and toxic colors, creating an appetite for synthetic vibrancy. However, the materialization of this bag demonstrates a pleasure that can be found in softer, more natural aesthetic expressions. In appreciating hues found in nature, we can live in a simultaneously vivid, joyful, and environmentally responsible manner.
A culture surrounding high-end bags has equated the purses with a status symbol. At the same time, bags are one of the first objects invented by humans. Ursula Le Guin even argues that carrying a bag is perhaps one of the most human things we can do— utilitarian in its purpose of gathering, saving, sharing— ubiquitous across cultures, a method for survival (Le Guin, 1986). So, although their significance within society has changed astronomically, the bag’s utilitarian nature renders it an object I don’t soon expect will go defunct.
People need bags. Instead of encouraging people to stop using bags, I propose we lean into the theme of material connection to reimagine what an ethically and sustainably produced— but still aesthetically pleasing bag might look like.
I imagine a bag that utilizes 2 different material metamorphosis techniques. First, it harnesses Kombucha leather, growing large planes on baking sheets. The leather is dried, then cut into strips. The strips are then sewn between layers of 100% organic cotton fabric. Fabric is dyed using a combination of food scraps and waste including leftover turmeric powder, scraps from red beets and purple cabbage. Once dyed, the fabric is also cut into strips, to create the reinforced, ready to weave bands of color. Bands are woven together into 5 segments (4 walls and 1 bottom of the bag), and stitched into their final form using a strong hemp yarn, making the piece functional for delicate use.
Modern, capitalist culture normalizes high contrast and toxic colors, creating an appetite for synthetic vibrancy. However, the materialization of this bag demonstrates a pleasure that can be found in softer, more natural aesthetic expressions. In appreciating hues found in nature, we can live in a simultaneously vivid, joyful, and environmentally responsible manner.
