Dyes and Dutch Billies

Collaged mulit-layered transfer print, and screenprint on calico
The inspiration for this piece is the part of the Liberties in Dublin 8 known as ‘Tenters’. It has this name because in the 16/1700s this area was home to ‘tenterfields’, which were part of the area’s wool, silk and poplin weaving industry. Tenterfields were fields in which the fabric was stretched out to dry in the sun, attached to large frames called ‘tenters’ with hooks called ‘tenterhooks’. There was already a weaving industry in this area in Dublin, but it developed even further with the arrival of Huguenot weavers in the late 17th century, they left France and mainland Europe because of religious persecution.

The place names in the area, as well as the architecture reflects this influence. A characteristic style of building in the area at the time were ‘Dutch Billy’ houses, especially in Newmarket Square, Sweeney’s Lane and Weavers’ Square. The focus for this project was to use layers to show the changing area over time and to highlight some of the perhaps forgotten history. I used the Dutch Billy houses as a visual element to portray this.

The background layer is created using transfer printing: made up of a collage of different torn paper sheets, which are printed multiple times and overprinted. These are to reference the colours from the dyes used in the past, and the overlapping to symbolise all the stories making up the area. On top of this is screenprinted an image of Dutch Billy houses, from a photograph of houses that no longer exist. The buildings are printed in a grey, on top of the transfer printed background image, giving an impression of light coming through the building, or of the building floating on the background so not looking very solid or real. Most of these Dutch Billy houses no longer exist in the Tenters area so this image is effectively of 'ghost' buildings, so the sense of impermanence in the image is very apt. This piece is part of a series based on the Tenters area of the Liberties in Dublin 8.