Astrid Bennett
Scroll Triptych: Zinnia Seedheads, Trees + Gingko Leaves, Crabapples + Marigolds, 2025
Natural Indigo, Sumi, Sumac & Acorn Cap Ink on cotton, polymer medium, stitching, eyelets 39 x 19 x 2"
Sumi ink+drawing + soymilk, observing seasonal changes in my garden, as well as natural dyeing. Despite other works with robust color & gesture, these evolve as quiet and meditative, sumi painting from life, natural inks, dipping in indigo, coming full circle in personally meaningful ways.
Astrid Bennett
Lifecycle: Zinnias, 2023
Sumi painting on soy milk-soaked cotton fabrics, gradation dyed in organic indigo 98 x 44”
Sumi ink+drawing + soymilk, observing seasonal changes in my garden, as well as natural dyeing. Despite other works with robust color & gesture, these evolve as quiet and meditative, sumi painting from life in my garden, dipping in indigo, coming full circle in personally meaningful ways.
Astrid Bennett
Awakening, 2024
Sumi Ink and Indigo on soy-soaked cotton 64x94x1
I started a community indigo vat during the pandemic and explored natural dye processes. Creating pieces in a more sustainable way now occupies about 40% of my dye practice, and the use of soy allows me to continue my focus on expressive painting and printing.
Astrid Bennett
Scroll 45: Clementines, 2021
Handpainting, monoprinting, screenprinting, drawing, stitching; cotton, dyes, India ink, polymer medium, eyelets 4" x 47" long
My current bodies of work include the “Tarps” and “Scrolls” series, adding drawing and mixed media to my hand dyed and printed textiles. I often pair Tarps and Scrolls with natural phenomena, using photography in short-term installations. Scrolls even accompany me on travels, with opportunities for drawing and photography in unaccustomed settings.
Astrid Bennett
Indigo Panels, 2021
Natural organic indigo, Itajime (resist dyeing) with mixed media cotton fabric, polymer medium, India ink 79 x 82"
I established my outdoor community indigo vat during the Pandemic, in mid-August, 2021, inviting two local artists at a time to try samples over a two hour period. It has been a wonderful way to safely connect with other people and spend time exploring. On days we were not gathering as a community, I did my own personal work. Over two years, 45 people participated. Exploring indigo also allowed me to see how I might incorporate more sustainable natural dyeing into my own work in a way that fits in with the visual language I use.
Astrid Bennett
Stacked Dreaming Quilts, 2023
80x80" quilts, vintage table. Indigo and fiber reactive dye on cotton broadcloth, machine stitching, vintage table 45 x 19 x 21"
I create visually abstract wall art using only fabrics that I paint or print myself. Having accumulated and created a lifetime of “things”, I now wonder in what ways I’m part of the sustainability problem. Do artists need to make so many “things”? Are there alternative ways to think about art pieces, accomplishments, and storage? Is making functional art radical in our times? Some say yes! At this juncture, I’ve decided that all of my large finished pieces must also be functional. In some dystopian future, they can be used for shelter or warmth, or they can be used well now. Needing color during the global pandemic in July 2020, I started the Dreaming Quilts project, using 30 years of my own fabrics to create 15 one-of-a-kind, full sized, functional quilts to be hung on walls or used for bedding. I continue to add to that trove of large-scale functional works.
Astrid Bennett
Installation with Indigo: Stacked quilts on vintage cot, 2023
Installation in various forms with hanging elements and/or stacked 80x80" quilts, vintage cot or table. Indigo and fiber reactive dye on cotton broadcloth, matte medium & stitching, vintage cot 152" x 84" x 100"
I create visually abstract wall art using only fabrics that I paint or print myself. Having accumulated and created a lifetime of “things”, I now wonder in what ways I’m part of the sustainability problem. Do artists need to make so many “things”? Are there alternative ways to think about art pieces, accomplishments, and storage? Is making functional art radical in our times? Some say yes! At this juncture, I’ve decided that all of my large finished pieces must also be functional. In some dystopian future, they can be used for shelter or warmth, or they can be used well now. Needing color during the global pandemic in July 2020, I started the Dreaming Quilts project, using 30 years of my own fabrics to create 15 one-of-a-kind, full sized, functional quilts to be hung on walls or used for bedding. I continue to add to that trove of large-scale functional works.
Astrid Bennett
Three Scrolls: Journeys, 2018
Handpainting, monoprinting, drawing, stitching; cotton, polymer medium, India ink, eyelets each: 4 x 39"
My current bodies of work include the “Tarps” and “Scrolls” series, adding drawing and mixed media to my hand dyed and printed textiles. Metaphorically, I see tarps as protective, versatile, adaptive. In some dystopian future, they could be functional, providing shelter or some other use. I often pair Tarps and Scrolls with natural phenomena, using photography in short-term installations. Part object, part theater set, these pieces can be used interchangeably in standard exhibitions or in installation indoors or out. Scrolls even accompany me on travels, with opportunities for drawing and photography in unaccustomed settings.
Astrid Bennett
Tarp Series: Undercurrents 4, 2017
handpainted/printed fabrics, mixed media, stitching, drawing 43 x 85 x 2"
My current bodies of work include the “Tarps” and “Scrolls” series, adding drawing and mixed media to my hand dyed and printed textiles. Metaphorically, I see tarps as protective, versatile, adaptive. In some dystopian future, they could be functional, providing shelter or some other use. I often pair Tarps and Scrolls with natural phenomena, using photography in short-term installations. Part object, part theater set, these pieces can be used interchangeably in standard exhibitions or in installation indoors or out. Scrolls even accompany me on travels, with opportunities for drawing and photography in unaccustomed settings.
Astrid Bennett
Tarp Series: Trees 3, Sycamore Greenway Prairie Area, 2018
Handpainted/printed cotton fabrics, mixed media, stitching, drawing 87 x 46 x 2"
My current bodies of work include the “Tarps” and “Scrolls” series, adding drawing and mixed media to my hand dyed and printed textiles. Metaphorically, I see tarps as protective, versatile, adaptive. In some dystopian future, they could be functional, providing shelter or some other use. I often pair Tarps and Scrolls with natural phenomena, using photography in short-term installations. Part object, part theater set, these pieces can be used interchangeably in standard exhibitions or in installation indoors or out. Scrolls even accompany me on travels, with opportunities for drawing and photography in unaccustomed settings.
