mounting a batik

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J

jp

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Hello everyone!!!!
I had a potential customer call today- price cheking,but anyway she is an artist that does mainly Batik.
What is the best way to mount? she was telling me her "other" framer wet mounts and puts in a vacuum press. I was thinking more in the conservation line of mounting. These pieces sell $5- 7000. She also uses acrylic. Any ideas or thoughts???
THANKS :confused:
 
Mounting a batik all depends of whether or not she is using the traditional materials. I have seen some done with cheap materials.

I have mounted Batiks a number of different ways. Your job is to decide which way is best for this particular customer.

1) Mount like stitchery. (pinned, and stretched too tight. Leftover wax in the Batik will leave small white cracks on the surface.)

2) Dry-mount with Fusion 4000. (Believe it or not, it can be removed (without leaving any of the Fusion 4000 on the Batik), and the heat will remove any of the white crack marks in the wax.)

3) (I have not tried this, but I heard it might work) Dry-Mount without adheasive. Using the heat of the press, the wax in the Batik will melt, and adhear to your backing, or mount board. This requires that the Batik has a lot of wax left in the fabric.

Are there any others?
 
Susan's option 3 has alot going for it. I did
this years ago when I was working with tourist
batik from Africa. If there is sufficient wax
left, it can be done with a household iron;
the (low)heat being applied through good quality paper. This will mean that the artist needn't be as aggressive in getting the wax out, the mounting
will be low heat reversible, and the remaining
wax will give some protection for the fibers
from pollution. It is easy to do and looks good.
Talk to the artist about giving you some scraps
to practice with and let him or her see how it
looks.

Good luck,

Hugh
 
Remember when graphic designers did paste-ups with a wax roller? Wouldn't that be similar to mounting a batik with its own residual wax? If so, then it would probably bubble eventually -- but maybe that's not a big deal if the mount could be reactivated with low heat.

I think wetmounting under vacuum would be ineffective -- water based paste shouldn't stick to the wax at all.

Drymounting (even with tissueless film) should work only if the adhesive penetrates the fabric. Then how does the conservator get it out?

We usually stretch and lace or pin batiks, depending on value and size. With a secure mechanical mount we don't have to worry about future problems. And if residual wax shows those white cracks after stretching, we just iron it with a cool iron. Presto change-o, no problem-o.
 
We have mounted batiks by stretching them on stretcher bars. We have done several Aftican styles and finished them by wrapping a rope or twine around the stretcher bar. This method permits backlighting and are easy to hang; simply put your eyescrews etc on the back of the stretcher bar. At this point they could be framed. We have never glazed but it could be done.

I would be very nervous using any form of heat because of the waxes used.

Jack Campbell, CPF
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