Let it Grow! Deborah Eydmann Talks Biotextiles With Atelier Dasha Tsapenko
From couture to carpets, collaboration is a key ingredient in Ukrainian designer Dasha Tsapenko’s practice. And she certainly has a wealth of partners to choose from, although perhaps not the type that usually springs to mind. Based in The Hague, in the Netherlands, Tsapenko combines traditional craftsmanship with innovative scientific research to grow garments, objects and narratives in concert with a multitude of living organisms.
Believing strongly in the capabilities of mycelium (the root-like structure of fungus) to ‘co-produce’ alternative biomaterials for a more regenerative future, Dasha’s Atelier investigates the intersection of fashion and agriculture, among other things, often working between a microbiology lab and a farm, to develop sustainable concepts, products and techniques using self-grown flexible matter as a medium. Natural cycles and rhythms guide and frame her practice, which involves growing, harvesting and hand-processing surfaces before artfully transforming them into ‘MYC’ garments, tapestries, tablecloths and rugs with real functional and aesthetic value. Tsapenko’s - and Mycelium’s – appetite for innovation is insatiable...
Deborah Eydmann: How did you evolve from architecture and design to growing bio-based clothing/textiles/objects?
Atelier Dasha Tsapenko: The format of a garment as an outcome and medium for almost any type of assignment came during my architectural studies in Ukraine. Later, when I did my Masters in Social Design in Eindhoven, I explored the connection of the human and the domestic space through various actions connected to clothes.
In parallel, I was introduced to the possibilities of Biodesign through European biomaterial pioneer Eric Klarenbeek. During my residency at Jan van Eyck Academie in Maastricht, I realiSed that the daily action of taking care (providing water to the plant) can be a powerful design tool.
The full shift took place while I was working in the microbiology lab of Utrecht University together with Prof. dr. Han Wösten, as part of the Bio Art and Design Award project, which we won together. We explored how we could create and use garments by applying the principles of agriculture.
DE: Where does your fascination for natural materials come from?
ADT: It originates from my childhood spent in rural Ukraine, my home country. Every summer from the age of three to seventeen we left Kyiv to stay in our basic clay hut in a small village. I spent my time with other local kids meandering in cornfields, collecting corn ‘silk’ to make hair for our dolls, and foraging wildflowers,... This is when I felt that I was “being nature” rather than “being in or with nature.”
DE: Your work combines traditional crafts such as knitting, weaving, felting and tufting with scientific research in Biodesign. Have these always been in your life?
ADT: Yes! Again, it all started during those country summers in Ukraine. In between outdoor activities, my grandmother taught me how to embroider and apply very basic needle skills.
The thing that inspires me the most about these crafts is the devoted process of a repetitive action - stitch by stitch, knot by knot, loop by loop. Each element plays a significant role in the result. Similar logic can be traced in fungal spores - each spore grows, develops and equally contributes to the development of a whole mycelium system.
DE: You ‘co-create’ with living organisms. Is it a truly mutual collaboration? Any unexpected results or surprises?
ADT: You could say that it’s mutual in terms of the creation process, but questionable in terms of the outcome and commitment. As a human designer, I create the nutritious, digestible and cosy reinforcement for the spores and seeds, and in return, they literally provide themselves by delving into and developing through the various crafted structures. If required, I give daily care and maintenance. Ultimately, I initiate this ‘co-creation’ and decide when to stop the development process.
In terms of outcome – every result is a surprise! Using exactly the same techniques, proportions, and growing protocols on the same fibres will result in a different outcome, often the total opposite of what was expected.
DE: Why does your own body play such an important role in your practice?
ADT: The methodology of being with the (raw) material, especially one that I have never worked with before, is crucial. For me, ‘being with’ means no longer thinking analytically about the properties of a material for a short period of time, but rather sensing it intuitively. This kind of practice (ritual?) often leads to new, unexpected ideas in the future outcome. It also balances out the collaborative process with the fungal spores as I literally stick the natural reinforcement to my own body to see how it feels before the preliminary activation stage. In the case of the Maltese prickly pear MYC_Cactus project, for example, it was fascinating to see how the curvy configuration of the cactus nodules resembles and aligns with the curves of a human body.
DE: You design and sell home interior textiles and objects, tell us about your MYC_Casa collection exhibited at Romanian Creative Week this May
ADT: Broadly speaking, the MYC_Casa (mycelium house) project demonstrates the wide range of possibilities for integrating mycelium into a domestic environment using concrete examples like wall tapestries, tablecloths, rugs, shoes, corsets and jackets, as well as teapots, jars, mugs and vases. In addition, a collection of abstract artefacts shows the endless scope for combining myco-materials. Some of these are made from raw materials, while others utilise carefully selected pre-owned items crafted from raw plant fibres and specially treated afterwards as a base for mycelium growth.
Very often people question the idea of co-existing with mycelium in one space due to possible spore inhalation, but also because of the specific aesthetic of the surfaces. And while the question of spores is quite easy to satisfy, by working with human-friendly, non-pathogenic species, the question of the bio-aesthetics needs time and recognition to get accustomed to. I personally believe that acceptance and normalisation of grown pieces in our habitat in the form of interior objects, textiles, decor and garments will eventually influence our behaviour in and with nature in general.
DE: Do you see a promising future for bio-based textile design?
ADT: I see a very promising future and I also see a very rapid process of us moving towards such a future. Bio-design is still quite a new discipline, which requires a lot of “bushwacking” not only in spheres of creation, and recipes but also in its ethics, vocabulary and normative regulations.
Processes of experimenting, making (growing), testing, selling and co-existing are necessary in order to navigate among them naturally; we can no longer ignore the rhythms, cycles and laws of how things work beyond our human realm. The only way is to align ourselves to them– both in acts of our creation and habits of using those creations.
WE ARE NATURE. The change of paradigm from separating ourselves from nature to embodying it in all possible ways will hopefully lead to us caring for it in the same way that we care for our own bodies and souls.
For the sake of clarity, Atelier Dasha Tsapenko’s interview has been edited and condensed slightly.
Text by Deborah Eydmann
For more information about this fascinating subject visit:
Atelierdashatsapenko.com
Follow:
@atelier__dashatsapenko/
Believing strongly in the capabilities of mycelium (the root-like structure of fungus) to ‘co-produce’ alternative biomaterials for a more regenerative future, Dasha’s Atelier investigates the intersection of fashion and agriculture, among other things, often working between a microbiology lab and a farm, to develop sustainable concepts, products and techniques using self-grown flexible matter as a medium. Natural cycles and rhythms guide and frame her practice, which involves growing, harvesting and hand-processing surfaces before artfully transforming them into ‘MYC’ garments, tapestries, tablecloths and rugs with real functional and aesthetic value. Tsapenko’s - and Mycelium’s – appetite for innovation is insatiable...
Deborah Eydmann: How did you evolve from architecture and design to growing bio-based clothing/textiles/objects?
Atelier Dasha Tsapenko: The format of a garment as an outcome and medium for almost any type of assignment came during my architectural studies in Ukraine. Later, when I did my Masters in Social Design in Eindhoven, I explored the connection of the human and the domestic space through various actions connected to clothes.
In parallel, I was introduced to the possibilities of Biodesign through European biomaterial pioneer Eric Klarenbeek. During my residency at Jan van Eyck Academie in Maastricht, I realiSed that the daily action of taking care (providing water to the plant) can be a powerful design tool.
The full shift took place while I was working in the microbiology lab of Utrecht University together with Prof. dr. Han Wösten, as part of the Bio Art and Design Award project, which we won together. We explored how we could create and use garments by applying the principles of agriculture.
DE: Where does your fascination for natural materials come from?
ADT: It originates from my childhood spent in rural Ukraine, my home country. Every summer from the age of three to seventeen we left Kyiv to stay in our basic clay hut in a small village. I spent my time with other local kids meandering in cornfields, collecting corn ‘silk’ to make hair for our dolls, and foraging wildflowers,... This is when I felt that I was “being nature” rather than “being in or with nature.”
DE: Your work combines traditional crafts such as knitting, weaving, felting and tufting with scientific research in Biodesign. Have these always been in your life?
ADT: Yes! Again, it all started during those country summers in Ukraine. In between outdoor activities, my grandmother taught me how to embroider and apply very basic needle skills.
The thing that inspires me the most about these crafts is the devoted process of a repetitive action - stitch by stitch, knot by knot, loop by loop. Each element plays a significant role in the result. Similar logic can be traced in fungal spores - each spore grows, develops and equally contributes to the development of a whole mycelium system.
DE: You ‘co-create’ with living organisms. Is it a truly mutual collaboration? Any unexpected results or surprises?
ADT: You could say that it’s mutual in terms of the creation process, but questionable in terms of the outcome and commitment. As a human designer, I create the nutritious, digestible and cosy reinforcement for the spores and seeds, and in return, they literally provide themselves by delving into and developing through the various crafted structures. If required, I give daily care and maintenance. Ultimately, I initiate this ‘co-creation’ and decide when to stop the development process.
In terms of outcome – every result is a surprise! Using exactly the same techniques, proportions, and growing protocols on the same fibres will result in a different outcome, often the total opposite of what was expected.
DE: Why does your own body play such an important role in your practice?
ADT: The methodology of being with the (raw) material, especially one that I have never worked with before, is crucial. For me, ‘being with’ means no longer thinking analytically about the properties of a material for a short period of time, but rather sensing it intuitively. This kind of practice (ritual?) often leads to new, unexpected ideas in the future outcome. It also balances out the collaborative process with the fungal spores as I literally stick the natural reinforcement to my own body to see how it feels before the preliminary activation stage. In the case of the Maltese prickly pear MYC_Cactus project, for example, it was fascinating to see how the curvy configuration of the cactus nodules resembles and aligns with the curves of a human body.
DE: You design and sell home interior textiles and objects, tell us about your MYC_Casa collection exhibited at Romanian Creative Week this May
ADT: Broadly speaking, the MYC_Casa (mycelium house) project demonstrates the wide range of possibilities for integrating mycelium into a domestic environment using concrete examples like wall tapestries, tablecloths, rugs, shoes, corsets and jackets, as well as teapots, jars, mugs and vases. In addition, a collection of abstract artefacts shows the endless scope for combining myco-materials. Some of these are made from raw materials, while others utilise carefully selected pre-owned items crafted from raw plant fibres and specially treated afterwards as a base for mycelium growth.
Very often people question the idea of co-existing with mycelium in one space due to possible spore inhalation, but also because of the specific aesthetic of the surfaces. And while the question of spores is quite easy to satisfy, by working with human-friendly, non-pathogenic species, the question of the bio-aesthetics needs time and recognition to get accustomed to. I personally believe that acceptance and normalisation of grown pieces in our habitat in the form of interior objects, textiles, decor and garments will eventually influence our behaviour in and with nature in general.
DE: Do you see a promising future for bio-based textile design?
ADT: I see a very promising future and I also see a very rapid process of us moving towards such a future. Bio-design is still quite a new discipline, which requires a lot of “bushwacking” not only in spheres of creation, and recipes but also in its ethics, vocabulary and normative regulations.
Processes of experimenting, making (growing), testing, selling and co-existing are necessary in order to navigate among them naturally; we can no longer ignore the rhythms, cycles and laws of how things work beyond our human realm. The only way is to align ourselves to them– both in acts of our creation and habits of using those creations.
WE ARE NATURE. The change of paradigm from separating ourselves from nature to embodying it in all possible ways will hopefully lead to us caring for it in the same way that we care for our own bodies and souls.
For the sake of clarity, Atelier Dasha Tsapenko’s interview has been edited and condensed slightly.
Text by Deborah Eydmann
For more information about this fascinating subject visit:
Atelierdashatsapenko.com
Follow:
@atelier__dashatsapenko/