Textile Painting: Exploration of Uli Symbolic Motifpainting of the Igbo on Dyed Canvas Using Acrylic as a Medium in Contemporary Textile Art

Dyed fabrics have been in existence since thousands of years ago.In the olden days, people of different cultures globally including the Igbo in South Eastern, Nigeria dyed fabrics with natural dyes extracted from animals and plants, till recently when humans started producing artificial dyes to achieve a broader range of colours, a level of fastness and availability. The Igbo dyed some cloth with the juice from some local plants and others, for instance Uli/Uri which they use to decorate the female bodies, however,this practice is almost going into extinction. This study is predicated on the fact that dyed fabrics are primarily worn on the body and the designs on the fabrics achieved through dyeing are not so new to the eyes, they aresomehow monotonous. Therefore, this study is of the view that if ulipainting which consists of some symbolic motifs based on Igbo life and wellbeing could be incorporated on dyed canvas before painting on it, perhaps the monotony could be broken to give birth to something new, thereby preserving and showcasing these Uli motifs in art.Those textile paintings could also be framed and hung up on the walls for interior decoration. The research methodology employed in this study is studio exploration.Photography and observations were also utilized as research instruments to collect some data. This study’s objective is to carry out a textile painting by adapting Uli Symbolic Motifs of the Igbo on hand dyed canvas in the studio using acrylic paints as a medium. One among the many findings of this study reveals that painting on tie dyed canvas is achievable and not so popular. It summarily recommends that other explorations in form of synergic approaches to art and design should be given attention by artists and designers to produce something new.

Keywords: Textile design, Painting, Uli traditional motifs, Tie-dye, Textile painting.