A large-scale Batik textile work from the exhibition Batik: Recolouring Tradition, made in collaboration with Indonesian and British artisans. Each morning in Yogyakarta, Lisa begins her day at Pasar Ngasem, the local flower market, before walking to the batik studio. The photographs of those flowers, screen printed onto indigo-dyed cloth, are a record of that daily ritual. This is dyed in Indigo; one of the oldest dye traditions in Javanese batik, cultivated across Java long before synthetic dyes replaced it. Along the base, the Semen Sawat motif, one of the most sacred in Javanese batik, depicting the wings and tail of Garuda, the mythical bird of the gods, and historically reserved for royalty as a symbol of power and protection.

Unique work, Edition of 1.

Batik tulis, batik cap, photography and screen print

Indigo dyes on silk and linen

180 x 240cm

Batik: Recolouring Tradition is an exhibition that retraces the steps of batik through a deeply personal and cross-cultural lens. Inspired by her late mother Farida King’s rich textile archive and Indonesian heritage, British textile artist and designer Lisa King embarks on a journey to deconstruct and re-examine this ancient technique for a contemporary world.