Yesterday I saw the exhibit "Past Present: The Indigo Work of Rowland Ricketts" at Wright State University, Robert and Elaine Stein Galleries, A132 Creative Arts Center . The exhibit is up until 10 October, only a few more days. It is so rare to have a textile exhibit in our own backyard!
The exhibit includes a half hour video on indigo dyeing, from farming the dyed fiber, and several installations of Ricketts work.
Upstairs are some Japanese indigo textiles; ikat, picture ikat, stencil resist dyeing and one piece of shibori. I thought this kimono was subtle and stunning:
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From what I can see there are 3 different kinds of indigo dyed threads in the warp for this kimono; dark indigo, a lighter indigo and and ikat dyed warp in the lighter indigo and white(or natural). The dark indigo is the background, the lighter indigo is the narrow stripes and the ikat dyed warps are used sparingly, two warps on each side of the narrow stripe. The white dashes in the ikat warp threads add a movement and liveliness to this otherwise predictable striped cloth.
More about the work of Rowland Ricketts work at http://www.rickettsindigo.com/ and the Gallery at http://www.wright.edu/artgalleries/. The biggest obstacle to visit the Gallery is parking, much easier evenings and weekends when there are fewer students and you can get a visitors pass at the Gatehouse in Parking lot 2.