Membrane Layer from the Natural Produce Series 2011

Disperse dyes digitally printed on polyester chiffon. 95cm x 210cm. With thanks to Huntech, Upper Hutt and Massey University, Wellington NZ.

Artist’s Synopsis

Digital textile printing technology has not only revolutionized how printed textiles can be produced, it has also engendered an alternative design approach, allowing for imagery that has been developed through digital resourcing, generation and manipulation to be printed directly onto fabric.

In a design-science project sponsored by the Leverhulme Trust, access to knowledge and resources at The Poultry Research Unit, Glasgow University Veterinary School, and at The Centre For Advanced Textiles, The Glasgow School of Art, facilitated the design, production and exhibition of original digital textile prints developed from scanning electron micrographs of chicken eggshell.

Two and three dimensional digital softwares were used in the design process to generate intricate pattern derived from micrographs with particular attention to the aesthetic peculiarities of eggshell formation, faults and abberant crystal forms. Resulting printed fabrics were shown in exhibitions in both design and science contexts in the UK, France and Italy in 2005-2006.

In 2011, Membrane Layer, a repeat design utilising micrographs of the membrane of the eggshell, was reworked to reflect traditional textile design repeat principles, improving the overall flow of the design. Digitally printed on chiffon, the transparency of the fabric references how the membrane layer of eggshell enables the transfer of gases between the embryo and the environment.

Artist’s Biography

Natalie McLeod is a lecturer and researcher in Textile Design at Massey University, Wellington, New Zealand. Her research investigates the integration of traditional and emerging technologies, in particular how established principles of screen-printed textile design can enrich design process and outputs in a digital age.

Her teaching and research is informed by her experience in digital and screen print design for fashion, interior and exhibition. She has designed textiles for fashion and product with London-based textile studios Print Tank and Vredenburgh Fuller. She also spent one year as Designer in Residence at Glasgow University Veterinary School in conjunction with The Glasgow School of Art, making use of microscopy and digital design software and production to generate designs for digital print, exhibiting internationally.

Investigating the importance of primary interaction with materials and process in her postgraduate studies at The Glasgow School of Art, she developed innovative garment-specific screen print designs to rival the emerging trend of engineered digital print. In her 2011 digital media design ‘Biohazard’ she utilised digital technology as a medium to further and disseminate textile pattern. This cross-disciplinary work was exhibited in ‘Love Lace’, The Powerhouse Museum, Sydney in 2011.

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