Sharing some thoughts on my Batik Experience
After graduating in Surface Design in Printed Textiles from Bradford College of Art, Yorkshire in 1972, I went on to do a 2 year post graduate Masters of Arts at the prestigious Royal College of Art, London. From 1974 – 1979, I did free-lance capsule collections for various companies like Sak's Fifth Avenue, Lord and Taylors, Chego, International, Banff (U.S.A.) and Matchclub, Joseph, Howie, Carolynn Brunn, Liberty’s, Jean Muir, London, U.K. I have exhibited at Texprint I, Chelsea Craft Fair from 1988 – 1990 and at the Coconut Arts Grove Festival, Miami, Florida, U.S.A. in 1992. I have also presented a paper on "Creating hand-painted fabrics by the Batik method" at Printex89, University of Industrial Arts, Helsinki, Finland. While from the 80's to the late 1990's I was appointed the external assessor & examiner at ITM. When the late Datin Seri Endon launched the Batik Piala after her name, I was invited to be on her batik advisory panel as well as one of the judges for its annual competition. I am indeed inspired by Mother Nature, the infinite possibilities in the amazing patterns/textures/shapes, etc. that are evident in the fauna and flora of the world we live in. So, everything what my eyes see, concoct in my mind and hand-paint/batik/shibori designs onto different types of fabrics for different purposes. As such, being a textile designer, I am always mindful of striving to create better and more exquisite designs. With this, I will express my creation with deep passion and it always gives me great happiness. It is the meditation and the spiritual therapy for my soul. Of late, I attended the bi-annual KLIB 2007 event. It was most heart warming to experience how the fibre artists from around the globe shared their various methods of doing Batik in a similar way but different manner, using traditional as well as innovative techniques. There are also others who are working towards more environmentally friendly modes of producing batik. So, different strokes work for different folks and this is the magic of Batik. As Ray Pierotti, a U.S. speaker at KLIB 2007 said in his paper "The Spirituality of Batik":
“That which comes from within us, in creating the beautiful batik, could only emerge as the inner most divine love and through the artist's work, the love is expressed and transformed as a work of art.
Creating and designing batik involves a number of factors like originality, execution of the batiking which means that one needs to develop good technical skill or craftsmanship. In other words, a great piece of batik should have a certain inherent qualities like design, colour as well as excellent craftsmanship. In 2006, I attended a Shibori workshop at the Petronas Gallery, conducted by a well known batik artist, Fatimah Chik. There I realised that Shibori is just not Tie and Dye technique. In its full essence, it is the Japanese shaped resist dyeing technique of folding, clamping, stitching and tying, pleating, wrapping, twisting and scrunching of fabrics. I was bedazzled with such unique magical patterns from this ancient craft and I was voraciously 'googled' on that subject and read as much as I could get hold of and also conducted a lot of experimentations too. One outstanding personality, who has been and still is phenomenally remarkable doyen of Shibori, Yoshiko Iwamoto Wada, who for over 30 years has been teaching Shibori around the world. Some of those who took her workshops/classes have become artists and teachers. Now, that's what I think divinely inspirational is!!! Ms. Yoshiko Wada has also established the World Shibori Network and the International Shibori Symposium. As such, I have embarked on a new journey into my textile vocation and I am now applying shibori techniques into my batik works. I would like to conclude that no artist can work on his/her own, in complete isolation for too long, in the broadest sense. There are the personalities who help in sharing the artist's creations to a wider audience. As such, I would like to extend my thanks to Mrs. Gaik Chin who suggested many years ago that I should produce limited edition and exclusive hand-painted batiks and also to my long time friend, Datin Zabedah Vessey who organised numerous fashion events and introduced so many clients to me. She can be regarded as the best patron any artist/designer can hope to have. And to my best friends, Mr. and Mrs. Bashir, Zee Shariff and Loong Mee Seen of Sotheby's New York, and my sister, Doreen who never stopped introducing new clients to me. My late British fashion designer wife, Shelagh Morgan-Tipp (Birmingham College of Art) had also inspired me in producing great batiks. She often reminded me that doing something outstandingly well is the best way or don’t do it at all.For all myBatik readers, if you embark on the Batik "Yellow Brick Road" – magic happens when you make it happen but along the way, you will fall sometimes and many times. Just pick yourself up and keep moving on and you will accomplish what you want to achieve. Have great fun!!
Welcome to Eddie Yap
A member of Batik Council, Eddie Yap has designed international brand-name collections for companies such as Jean Muir Designs UK, SAKs Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus, Lord & Taylors, USA. He now produces an exclusive range of handcrafted batik textile under his own label.
Eddie was apointed as advisor for Batik Guild Malaysia & judges for the prestigious Piala Seri Endon batik competition in 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 & 2008.
