Birch bark in textile design: woven from grace

When we received an enquiry from textile design student Esther Deyerl in autumn 2015, it was immediately clear that her project was very promising. We were happy to pack a parcel full of birch bark - the basis for her student research project.
Esther likes to draw her inspiration from nature - and came across birch bark. Just as clothing is the covering for people, birch bark is the outer natural covering around the tree. Full of ideas, aesthetically very sophisticated and creative, the student explores the material birch bark in textile design and has created an impressive portfolio, which she gives us a brief insight into here:

The birch - student research project in the field of textile design

As part of a student research project in the field of textile design at Hof University of Applied Sciences, I focussed on birch bark and its possible uses.
My idea for the design project came from an autumn walk through the woods. I was particularly struck by the play of colours of the birch leaves, which ranged from yellow to reddish, and this was the starting point for my research. My research quickly focussed on birch bark and its numerous uses, as well as its composition. Consequently, I decided to work directly with birch bark, which was kindly made possible by the sagaan company.
The object of investigation here was a small selection of different techniques to create diverse surfaces that should impress both haptically and visually. The aim of the work was not primarily to develop finished products, but rather to test out ideas in order to take them up in later considerations, perfect them and find possible applications.

For the birch fabrics, I wanted to recreate a real birch tree in an abstract form by first cutting the bark into strips and then reassembling them in the direction of growth on the hand loom using plain weave. The areas of application range from façade design and illumination to fashion.

I also considered the idea of creating a resizable, movable surface from birch bark. To do this, I reversed the formal language of the birch by cutting the bark into squares and connecting them at the corners using metal rings. The resulting works turned out to be visually fragile, yet very durable, stable and dynamic, so that the appeal lies precisely in this contrast. A wide range of interior applications is therefore conceivable.

I also incorporated the embossing process into the project, as birch bark is ideal for this method. Various materials were used, such as rabbit wire, birch branches or a heavily woody piece of birch bark itself, which produced interesting results.
Esther Deyerl 2016 - sagaan will be happy to forward contact enquiries.