Fruit Of The Earth

Crystal Lee of Project Coal on the process of natural dyeing, connecting with nature and the beauty of colour.

- Carmen Sin

Natural dyeing—the practice of extracting pigments from plants, bugs and other things of the earth to colour cloth—is a difficult art. Its materials are notoriously unruly, requiring formulas so precise they approach science: a hair difference in weight shifts the colour a shade; a slight change in acidity flubs the texture—the dye bath is a well of rebellion. But to Crystal Lee, 30, artist and self-dubbed soul behind Project Coal, ceding control to nature is a matter of course. She takes care not to call the craft difficult, preferring instead to praise the “alchemy” of the process (though she is just as careful to warn clients of unexpected results). “At the start, it made me feel closer to nature,” she muses. “Now I am drawn to the intrigue of the colour changes; how drops of vinegar or lemon juice can change one colour into something else.”