Batik is a popular, centuries-old art practice that originated on the Indonesian island of Java in Southeast Asia. The practice involves applying wax resist to fabric using a tool called a “tjanting” and dyeing over the resist. Batiked fabrics entered mainstream culture through fashion and home decor in the 19th and 20th centuries. Watercolor batik is the unique medium of choice of lifelong artist Ruth Hanson, whose exhibition Nature in Batik is showing in the Arboretum’s Cafe Gallery through Jan. 5.
Hanson describes the process of watercolor batik as “layering melted wax and watercolor on rice paper,” over and over again, applying washes of watercolor from lightest to darkest. When the paper is completely covered in wax, “you just crunch it up into a ball…and then put another coat of watercolor in to seep through the cracks.” The final layer of paint seeps into the capillary-like cracks in the wax, giving the painting a distinct veining, batiked effect. Then, Hanson covers the painting with newspaper and irons it. The newspaper soaks up all the wax, with only the layers of paint remaining.
Hanson’s work is heavily inspired by her life growing up on a small dairy farm. She has lived in states across the country, including Texas, Idaho and South Dakota, moving with her husband, who serves as a pastor. Hanson’s spirituality influences her art practice, as well as nature, which stirs wonder and awe within her.
“I think it's a gift in me when I know what's graceful, I know what has a good composition…I know what is calming…And then if it is to me, then it must reach somebody else, too. I think [that’s] the Holy Spirit working,” explained Hanson. When Hanson turns towards nature for inspiration, she looks for “the things that are just calm and peaceful, and I think other people must be looking for that, too…I love to see beauty and color, sometimes it's kind of fun to think about, ‘I wonder who painted that sky tonight,’ you know?”
She enjoys painting the farms that have inspired her since childhood, including the big red barn at the Farm at the Arb. Visitors will be greeted by the quintessential barn in Hanson’s painting “ArBARNetum,” which is hanging across from the entrance to Rootstock and sets an idyllic tone for the rest of Hanson’s paintings, which depict snow blanketing winter landscapes, spring flowers and green summer fields of farms.
“I hope people enjoy [my work], and are curious about the process,” said Hanson. Interested viewers can learn more from Hanson herself at the show’s Meet and Greet event on Dec. 5, from 5-7 p.m. in the Cafe Gallery.
The Arboretum is home to three indoor gallery spaces featuring rotating exhibitions of nature-based art plus numerous works of art and sculpture found across the grounds and in the Harrison Sculpture Garden, home of the Dakota Sacred Hoop Walk. Learn more about Art at the Arboretum and explore upcoming exhibitions.