Exhibit Notes:
Dorte uses an ancient wax resist method, batik, to create layers of color and images on fabric. "I paint the dyes onto the silk as if they were watercolors." Designs from oriental rugs, patterns of shells, leaves and petals of plants and spring bouquets grace her work. Spirals, plotted from the Grecian golden rectangle are woven into her piece "Golden Spiral." At times she adds "Gold leaf [to] present a constantly changing reflective background, sort of like sunlight." Her watercolors are painted from direct observation to "…capture the gem-like quality of them [flowers]…the Amazonian flower blooms only one night (Cereus)." Other flowers require a painter’s patience to watch and wait day-by-day for more blooms to open.