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Elizabeth Sykes Batiks

Islay House Square, Bridgend

Batik is commonly used to create designs on cloth, but Liz uses it as a fine art medium.
She draws the picture onto white silk and paints hot wax over those parts of the picture which are to remain white. The silk is then immersed in a dye-bath, where only the unwaxed parts of the picture take up the colour. After drying, the parts to remain this first colour are waxed before the picture is immersed in the next colour. This process may be repeated many times to produce the finished picture. During the process, the wax can be cracked, allowing dye to seep through and produce the pattern of fine lines characteristic of batiks. The wax is finally removed with a hot iron and blotting paper.

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