Marine biologist turns attention to detail into meticulous Japanese stencil making

By THERESA HOGUE
The Entertainer

CORVALLIS n Karen Miller is a fan of meticulousness. She spent 25 years researching the respiratory proteins of octopuses at Oregon State University, and reveled in the world of biochemistry and marine biology.

“I was a marine biologist by instinct and training,” she said.

But 11 years ago, she learned about Japanese stencil making, and a whole new world opened up.

“It was a convergent experience,” she said. “The minute I could retire I hit the ground running. It’s the funniest feeling to know that that’s what I was meant to do. I think some people are just wired to know that they’re meant to do something.”

Miller had always been fascinated by the Japanese art of katazome, which involves dyeing fabric using handcut stencils. Her grandfather was a zoologist who lived in Japan and taught her much about the country, and her mother was an illustrator and needle worker. But it took a katazome artist in Roseburg to open up her eyes to a whole new world.

“I was blown away to know it was something I could learn to do,” Miller said. “I have cut hundreds and hundreds of stencils since then.”

Most of Miller’s patterns, like those of traditional Japanese katazome, are inspired by natural sources, from the vascular patterns of leaves to the elegant swoops of a peacock’s feather. Many of her images are inspired by her background as a marine biologist, including frolicking salmon and the rippled ridges of a seashell.

The stencils are cut on special, handmade paper she orders from Japan. The tradition is dying out, so paper is hard to come by. One of the reasons Miller is so fascinated with the art is because so few artists are now practicing katazome.

“I’m kind of a crusader,” she said.

Cutting the stencils is just the first step in the process. She then applies a silk mesh to the stencil, and laying it over the fabric, she applies a resist paste made out of rice. The paste adheres in the form of the stencil to the fabric, and clings on as the fabric is dipped over and over again into vats of indigo.

Finally, after the dye has dried, Miller soaks the fabric in water and the resist paste peels off, leaving the stenciled pattern as undyed portions of the fabric. The resist paste is so strong that even the finest details stand out in sharp relief.

In 12th century Japan, a sumptuary law forbade the merchant class from wearing anything but indigo, to separate them from the noble classes. To get around this law, the merchants displayed their wealth and good breeding by wearing indigo attire that was dyed with intricate and gorgeous patterns, thus developing katazome into a treasured art form.

Although indigo dyeing is a common type of katazome, Miller also uses the stencil technique with other colored dyes, creating a huge variety of textile art. She sells some of her work in unfinished fabric form, while she turns other projects into quilts, wall hangings, table runners and garments.

In her basement, Miller stretches and hangs long pieces of fabric, and she always has something in progress. When the weather is warmer, she often turns nearby trees into poles for stretching and drying dyed cloth, always bringing excitement and interest from passersby, who mistake the giant clothes for hammocks.

Because of her passion for stencils, Miller said her whole perspective has changed.

“I see the whole world through different eyes somehow,” she said. She’ll see something, from a crystal formation to a feather, and tell herself “Oh, wouldn’t that make a fabulous stencil.”

Miller has been invited to teach katazome at art centers around the Northwest and California, and has just entered a new piece, a coat imprinted with deconstructed peacock feathers, into a Bernina Sewing Machine competition. She’ll be teaching at Coupeville Art Center on Whidbey Island, Wash., this summer, and hopes that teaching, combined with sales of her work, will see her through retirement. Meanwhile, she continues to do what she loves, capturing the beauty of nature onto fabric.

“Still, after all these years, it’s kind of miraculous.”

ON THE NET: For more on Miller’s work, go to www.nautilus-fiberarts.com.