6 Vintage Maridadi Kenya Fabrics Textile Handblocked Design Animals Indigo Black

Description

Vintage Maridadi Kenya Fabrics Textile
Handblocked Designed
stitched on all 4 sides
Design: Indigo - Black- Animals
Suitable for framing - perfect mounted in a plexiglass shadow box
Dimensions: 18" L x 13" H
An original screen print from Maridadi West studio founded by Dorothy Udall, who taught Interior Design at Colorado State University. Udall moved to Kenya in 1965 so her husband could teach at the University of Nairobi. Using her background in art and design and desire to create work for the women of one of Nairobi's most depressed areas, she opened a small textile production company called "Maridadi" after the Swahili word meaning "pretty" or "fancy".  The first fabrics produced were hand-applied, wax-resist batiks but she moved to silk screening for it's efficiency. The designs and colors were informed by the regions traditional arts, animals, people and even everyday household items. Moving back to the states, they built a new studio and named it Maradadi West. Dorothy continued small batch screen printing, the aesthetic now reflecting the American South West. Patterns are inspired by native American pottery, regional flora and the landscape.
This piece is from the original studio in Kenya.
While modern and graphic in design, there is still a wonderful hand drawn quality to the work enhanced by its hand woven natural cotton ground.