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The Art of Resist Dyeing
Waxberry juice is usually used to produce a red color, and yellow gardenia to
make yellow. Genuine batik can't be made entirely by machines and most of the
work is done by hand These days, batik is no longer just for everyday clothes
and is gradually developing into an art form as modern artists add more cultural
factors and techniques to their creations.
 Clamp-resist dyeing
Like the ties used in tie-dyeing and wax in batik, woodblocks engraved with
various patterns are the most important tools in clamp-resist dyeing. Two
symmetrical carved concave blocks are used to clamp the folded cloth and dip it
into a dye vat with the help of a large lever. The result is cloth with the same
pattern dyed onto two sides. After dyeing, the cloth is removed from the
woodblock clamps and rinsed.
Carved Blocks
This practice saw its apogee in the Tang
dynasty (618-907) when it was used to produce a variety of multi-colored
silk products. The sculptures of Bodhisattvas in the Dunhuang
Grottoes, in northwest China's Gansu
Province, are often depicted in jiaxie (clamp-resist dyed) silk dresses. The
technique went into decline after the Song Dynasty (960-1279) when multi-colored
designs were gradually replaced by simple indigoes and white.
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