Re:imagine // Streptomyces Coelicolor –//Sunset Hues
During my MA in Textiles at the Royal College of Art, I explored the creative potential of microbial pigments as sustainable alternatives to petroleum-based dyes. Working in collaboration with the bacterium Streptomyces Coelicolor, I developed a practice-based research framework that combined scientific protocols with traditional and experimental textile processes.
Through this work, I investigated how living colour systems can be nurtured, guided, and adapted to produce both abundant pigments and intentional patterning on fabric. The project revealed the possibilities and challenges of working with organisms that have their own “agenda,” highlighting both the vibrancy and unpredictability of microbial colour.
This research contributes to the wider conversation around regenerative and circular design systems, re-imagining how textiles might be patterned and coloured in planet-positive ways.
Working with Living Colour Systems // More than Human Collaborators.
"Streptomyces rarely does the same thing twice." Dr David Widdick
Embracing this unpredictability was central to my process. Collaborating with a living organism meant working with its own needs and rhythms, rather than imposing fixed outcomes. The patterns and pigments it produced often resisted control, reminding me that designing with microbial colour was less about mastery and more about dialogue.
Intentional Patterning
Intentional patterning was a phrase I developed specifically for my work with microbial pigments. It described not only the methods I explored for printing with these pigments through traditional and experimental textile techniques, but also my work with live organisms and their inbuilt methods of embedding pigment directly into materials and surfaces. Together, these approaches reflected my aim to influence the natural patterning that emerged through the organism’s own systems and movements.
Modified Growth Environments
The pigments were at their most vibrant when still alive, but the challenge lay in retaining their colour once the bacteria had been neutralised. I explored modified growth environments to expand the possibilities of working with microbial colour.
Large-scale direct growth samples were created by cultivating pigment directly onto fabric in oversized petri dishes, where intentional patterning was introduced through the use of printed resists.
