New Batik Creations from Katie Nikolaishvili

Intense colors of purple, red, blue and lilac, in natural silk tissues, combine almost all the colors of the palette, in a technique that seems as though the canvas has been applied to, with many little accents of tissues and accessories. This mirage is the result of refined taste and individual technique of the artist; Katie Nikolaishvili.
Landscapes, different compositions, flowers and even portraits created with the technique of batik, were exhibited in Shardeni Street Gallery “Baia”, last weekend. It was twenty-four year old, Katie Nikolaishvili’s second personal exhibition. “I’ve taken part in many group exhibitions, the last time it was in Germany some months ago, but I try to hold personal ones annually as well,” says young artist. Slim and tiny, she seemed happy and a little bit nervous at the opening of her exhibit. Her crisp appearance, a white blouse and a kind of unique creation, makes one imagine how accurately, and with attention she has worked on the tissues. “I do outline spontaneously, I never know ahead what will come out from it, but then when the graphical picture is ready I work on colors and it takes a lot of time,” Katie says. She graduated from Tbilisi State Academy of Art and has a diploma in Textile Design. She has worked on Gobelin as well, but as of late she prefers Batik on silk.
She never knows how long one creation will take before its ready. Most of her time is spent working on processing the tissue and the paints on it. “When I make things like scarves or cushion covers or other things that need to be washed, I try hard to make them water resist, but decorative works doesn’t need so much trouble,” the artist explains. Not because of less trouble, but because she felt so, Katie decided to create just decorative batik pictures for this year’s exhibit.
The forty-two textiles have not one creative line or common theme. The painter created them throughout the year, randomly, and not specially for that event. That is why all the works are different, and every piece of textile needs its own special attention and observation. If you look closely enough, you can find some themes in the pieces Katie has worked on during the year. One of them; compositions made of tea-pots and glasses for tea. Their colors and ornaments are like old fashioned, traditional Russian kettles. Impressive yellow, light-red and light-brown colors evoke the feeling of old kitchen, sitting around a table, having a tea and delicious biscuits. There are also a line of flowers on the pots and landscapes. The well-known Georgian painter and cartoonist, Zaal Sulakauri, who also attended the opening, has been enchanted with the landscapes. He even thought to try Batik himself, a technique he hadn’t used yet. “I’ve never worked in Batik but after seeing these pictures, I really think of it now. I especially liked some of them because, I feel an inspiration from my favorite artist, Gustav Klimt, and that’s fine. Also I like the compositions of the picture, they show that the author is professional painter and good at her work,” Sulakauri said. He even proposed Nikolaishvili’s future cooperation, and asked if she would be interested in teaching batik for children in the art-studio, which he owns. It appeared teaching was in Katie’s interests as well.

Anna Chichinadze
3.04.2009