Painting with Fabric
Benjamin Shine 'shines' in art and fashion worlds
Dress for Maison Margiela Artisanal by Benjamin Shine
The tulle seems to defy gravity.
See
Discovering Tulle as a Medium
Shine says he walked past a fabric store loaded with tulle of every color, and thought, “I have to do something with tulle someday. It’s readily available, it’s cheap, and you can do stuff in scale with it.”
Eight years later, he was playing with a scrap of tulle and realized there were many values created through the stacked layers. He, then, began gluing and ironing the tulle, realizing he could use it in his art making. (TWELV)The Dance by Benjamin Shine
5 Tulle Portraits for Bergdorf Goodman, Benjamin Shine
In 2017, Shine created five bespoke tulle portraits for Bergdorf Goodman in an exhibition called ‘seeing through the material’ which comprised the artist’s trademark ethereal tulle flows.
The fabric comes together to form hauntingly beautiful female portraits (designboom)
The exhibition explores energy, emotion, and tranquility in a meditative oasis amid the chaos of midtown Manhattan's Fifth Avenue. Each face has its eyes closed as if lost in deep contemplation, save for one figure, whose eyes are wide open as if in a state of clarity (that piece took nearly 100 hours). Realized in bright, emotive shades of teal, fuchsia, ocher, and purple, the works have a hauntingly lifelike quality to them despite the unusual medium. (Architectural Digest)
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The Dance, Benjamin Shine
“Exploring the idea of creativity as a powerful yet brief force of energy, The Dance represents this flow and fleeting expression bursting from the source as if manifesting momentarily.” - Benjamin Shine
Say
“Shine’s work traverses theme of invisibility, solidity, flux, and impermanence” Nina Azzarello-critic
Do you think the tulle is why his works have the qualities Azzarello describes?
What other material might give you the same interpretation?
He mentions that he wants it to feel like smoke. How is his work like smoke?
Do
Try playing with tissue paper or tulle. Notice the values intensify as the material layers upon itself.
Shine had a self-imposed rule to create his portraits using one long piece of Tulle instead of using shorter pieces.
Create an image using your tissue paper or tulle.
What are the challenges you came across? Are you motivated to work through them?
About Benjamin Shine
British artist Benjamin Shine was born in 1977. Shine studied fashion design at Central Saint Martins and the Surrey Institute of Art, and established his own studio in 2003. His great-grandfather was a tailor who moved to London from Russia, and Shine's roots are in the fashion industry.
Shine is a multidisciplinary artist who is known for his work with tulle, which he describes as "painting with fabric". His technique involves pleating and pressing a single length of tulle to create a portrait image. Shine's work has been featured in installations around the world, and he has collaborated with companies such as Givenchy, Google, Harrods, MTV, and Coca-Cola.
Insta @benjaminshinestudio
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