about the artist
Ever since her Aunt Eva would bring home batik fabrics from her government posts in Southeast Asia, Phyllis Boger has been fascinated with the beautiful colors and designs achieved with the batik process. These batiks from far off places became a starting point for her explorations into the process of using various resists such to create lines and designs on silk and other fabrics. When using the hot wax, she often employs the use of an ancient tool called the tjanting. After applying the resist, she hand paints the dyes, onto the fabric. The dyes spread out to meet the resist creating beautiful, jewel like colors. Many of her designs are inspired by travel, trinkets, nature or the geometrics of a bustling city. Boger states that “designs don’t usually start with a drawing, but have been worked out in my head as I do the dishes, walk the dog, drive around town. When I am finally ready, I just start painting. With each application of dyes, I work out the relationships of colors next to each other, the size of the shapes.
Ms. Boger received her BFA from Barat College, in Lake Forest, Illinois and was a recipient of a scholarship award to attend the Art Institute of Chicago, where she received a degree in Art Education. Her Masters of Fine Arts, in painting, was earned at Western Connecticut State University. Phyllis and her husband moved to Memphis twenty years ago.
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