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You are here: Home / Period Archive / 1980's Art / Wall Hangings – (1982-1988)

Wall Hangings – (1982-1988)

April 30, 2014 By John Rankine Leave a Comment

Having dabbled in batik in Toronto in the ‘70s, I began experimenting with dyes and bleach, and developed a dye-stencil technique that began on t-shirts in the early ‘80s. After creating and selling hundreds of t-shirts to friends and trendy boutiques along Queen St. West, I felt confident in applying this technique to large-scale canvas.
The canvas was first dyed ,starting with the darkest color (the reverse of batik). Once dried, stencils were applied and a diluted bleach solution was carefully sprayed onto the canvas, removing the color. The stencils were removed, the bleach residue rinsed out and the canvas dyed its second color. These steps of dying, applying stencils and bleaching out areas were repeated several times, creating a layered effect. As confidence grew so did the size of the canvas, creating many 5’x5’ ft.and 6’x4’ ft. works.
The work on canvas was awarded a 1983, Canada Arts Council grant.

H Erectus detail_

Erectus – Dye on canvas – (detail) – aprox 24″ x 36″ – 1983

H zulu liberation_

Zulu Liberation – Dye on canvas – 32″ x 40 ” – 1985

H The missing piece_

The Missing Piece – Dye on Canvas – 24″ x 34″ – 1982

H untitled_

The Cave – Dye on Canvas – 24″ x 36″ – 1982

H layers_

Layers – Dye on Canvas – 48″ x 28″ – 1984

H jungle love 2-2

Jungle Love – Dye on Canvas – 24″ x 32″ – 1985

H target_

Target Practice – Dye on Canvas – 30″ x 24″ – 1984

H homo erect_

Homo Erect – Dye on Canvas – 32″ x 42″ – 1984

H Adam and Eve detail_ H circle meeting detail-2 H circle meeting full-2 H conquering fear detail 2-2 H conquering fear detail_ H conquering fear_ H dueling sunflowers_ H ego death 1_ H ego death detail_ H feeding frenzy detail_ H Feeding frenzy The Last Supper_ H life forms detail 2_ H Life forms_ H mother detail head_ H mother detail-2 H mother_ H out of chaos detail-2 H out of chaos_ H penetrating detail_ H penetrating knowledge_ H spiritual bind full-2 H spirutual bind detail_ H spritual bind detail_ H Tree within_

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Filed Under: 1980's Art, Art Shows, Period Archive, Print Design

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