Painting on Silk with Nazanin Hedayat Munroe

«In October the Studio Workshop event Silk Painting: Kimono-Inspired Designs explored the rich motifs and exciting compositional choices inspired by works from the exhibition Kimono: A Modern History, currently on view through January 19. Students practiced a variety of silk application methods, including paste resist, block printing, and free-hand painting.»

After being introduced to the practice, instructor Nazanin Hedayat Munroe—a widely exhibited textile artist and art historian—took the class to the Kimono exhibition for inspiration. While discussing the painting and embroidery techniques of some of the kimonos in the exhibition, students sketched motifs from the works to be used later in their own silk paintings.

Many in the class were drawn to the floral motifs, such as cherry blossoms and water lillies, present in many of the objects on display. One student contrasted folded-paper butterflies from a uchikake with flowers in one of her final silk painting pieces. It was unmistakable how this particular piece from the exhibition inspired her.

Left: Instructor Nazanin Hedayat Munroe discusses silk painting techniques with a student.

Join Nazanin again on December 12 here at the Met as she demonstrates the art of painting on silk at the Friday Evening Gallery Event—Get Wrapped Up: Poetry and Art of the Kimono. Try your own hand at silk painting techniques, gather inspiration from the gorgeous textiles, and enjoy an evening of art and poetry.

Left: Outer Robe (Uchikake) with Mandarin Oranges and Folded-Paper Butterflies, late 18th–early 19th century. Japan, Edo Period (1615–1868). Tie-dyed satin damask with silk embroidery and couched gold thread. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Gift of Ilse Bischoff, 1976 (1976.108). Right: A student explores butterfly motifs during the workshop.