'Printed Impressions' opens Monday at Hillestad Gallery

            Work by students in University of Nebraska-Lincoln textile design courses and garments from the Historic Costume Collection of the UNL Department of Textiles, Merchandising and Fashion design will be featured in a new exhibition opening Jan. 28 at the Robert Hillestad Textiles Gallery.

            "Printed Impressions: Source and Speculation" examines the relationship between an historical garment and the objects they inspire. The Friends of the Robert Hillestad Textiles Gallery will host a public reception for the show from 5 to 7 p.m. on Feb. 1. The exhibition is free and open to the public and runs through March 1 at the gallery on the second floor of the Home Economics Building, 35th Street north of East Campus Loop.

            Michael Burton, a UNL lecturer in textiles, merchandising and fashion design, worked with students in advanced design for printed textiles course to explore the use of a proprietary source as an inspiration for design. "We first examined the difference between copying a design and learning from a design to create something new," Burton said. Burton said students looked at the intellectual property court case of Fairey vs. AP in which a graphic designer used an Associated Press photograph of then-candidate Barack Obama. They also explored Andy Warhol's use of popular culture imagery and how the contemporary Mui Mui apparel brand has used traditional designs in new ways this season. After students gained experience developing their own designs based on a source, they selected garments from the Historic Costume Collection to use as an inspiration for a finished repeat pattern design.

            Similarly, students in Professor Wendy Weiss' surface design on textiles course referred to a selection of printed garments to develop repeat designs on fabric. They began by interpreting personal sketches into repeat patterns, taking inspiration from UNL's Historic Costume Collection. Several students elected to transform their inspired drawings into two- and three-color repeat prints, which are featured in the exhibition.

            Eleven garments from the Historic Costume Collection offered students inspiration for this project. Ranging from an 1890s reception gown to an 1980s sheer dress, each garment is distinguished by the print design of the fabric and the coloration. Highlights from the collection include a Japanese print dress made from eyelash novelty fabric, as well as a mandala-inspired blouse designed by Emilio Pucci.

            Leah Sorensen-Hayes, digital printing studio assistant, worked with advanced students in Burton's class to train and assist them in printing their fabric on the environmentally-friendly high-resolution Mimaki DS1600 digital textile printer. Cutting-edge Wasatch RIP software communicates with the printer, which has high-speed print heads and a maximum print width of 63 inches. The printer is housed in a humidity-controlled Digital Textile Printing Laboratory where they also learned how to use a Jacquard SteamJet fabric finisher for optimal dye fixation. The Ardis James Professorship in Textiles, Clothing and Design funded some of the consumables the students used, including dyes specially formulated for this application.

            Weiss and her students worked in the department's Surface Design Studios where they make screen prints using textile paints and dyes with stencils they create by hand and print on tables with carefully calibrated measuring systems, locally fabricated at Rivers Metal Products, to insure accuracy.

            The Hillestad Gallery is part of the Department of Textiles, Merchandising and Fashion Design in the UNL College of Education and Human Sciences. Hours are 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Monday-Friday and by appointment. Guest parking is available near the building and metered stalls are located in the Nebraska East Union lot. For more information, call 402-472-2911 or visit http://textilegallery.unl.edu. School and community groups are welcome. Please call in advance to arrange a tour or download the tour request form from the gallery webpage. A limited amount of funding is available for underwriting bus or van expenses to bring in student groups.

            Following is a list by hometown of students whose work appears in "Printed Impressions."

            Allen: Hannah Flores.

            Hastings: Rachel Smith.

            Omaha: Adrienne Anderson, Alex Carlson, Lindsay Ducey, Ashley Turner.

            Papillion: Savannah Ramirez.

            St. Paul, Minn.: Camille Hawbaker.

            San Francisco: Samantha Christenson.

            Shandong, China: Weifong Gong.

            Sloan, Iowa: Kelli Schink.

Writer: Wendy Weiss