Batik art
The Collaboration: Arts Patio and Parrilla Workshop
Every piece we offer is a true, hands-on partnership with Andrés Parrilla—a multitalented Uruguayan artist who has been creating art for over 20 years. One of his true specialties is Batik, a wax-resist dyeing technique rooted in centuries-old traditions. Lately, we have asked him to develop a very special collection, merging his rich Latin American color sensibility with the architectural textures and lighting of Iberian (but not only) spaces.
And we each have our distinct part to play in bringing this collection to life:
“The Inspiration” (Our Part): We love stepping into the creative process right at the start by suggesting themes and ideas we think you’ll love. We draw inspiration from the vibrant life around us—capturing the essence of Portuguese coastal life, historic towns, traditional boats, and the energy of the ocean.
“The Mastery” (Andrés' Part): Andrés takes these concepts and brings them to life, holding the undeniable credit for the final designs. Hand-dyeing each piece on high-quality natural fabrics, his works explore the beautiful interplay of organic form, light, and material—offering collectors and designers both visual depth and tactile presence.
“The Finishing Touch & Sharing” (Our Part): The moment Andrés finishes his part and hands the artwork over to us, we take the lead again. We carefully frame each piece—offering versatile options for raw / partially framed presentations—and set out to spread the colors around us. Through collaborations with local galleries, special shops, and cozy cafes, as well as curated expositions and vibrant art fairs, we bring these joyful creations directly to the world.
“It is a shared journey from a simple spark of an idea to a finished masterpiece ready to transform your space.”
Batik is both, an art and a craft
Traditionally it is a cloth made using a wax-resist dying technique.
To create a batik, selected areas of the cloth are blocked out by applying a hot wax over them. The cloth is then dyed. It is common to use a mixture of beeswax and paraffin wax, which is responsible for the characteristic cracking. The parts covered in wax resist the dye and remain the original colour.
This process of dying and waxing can be repeated to create many elaborated and colourful designs.
Thin wax lines are made with tjanting. A wooden handled tool with a tiny metal cup with a little spout out of which the wax seeps. after the last dying, the fabric is hung up to dry.
Than it is dipped in a solvent to dissolve the wax or ironed between paper towels or newspapers to absorb the wax and reveal the deep rich colours and the fine lines that give batik its character.
Batik has a worldwide popularity, fabrics with the traditional batik patterns are found in Indonesia, Malaysia, Japan, China, Azerbaijan, India, Sri Lanka, Egypt, Nigeria, Senegal and Singapore.
It is an ancient art form. Evidence of early examples of batik have been found in the far east, Middle East, Central Asia, and India, from over 2000 years ago.
Javanese (Indonesia) traditional batik especially from Yogyakarta and Surakarta has notable meanings rooted to the Javanese conceptualization of the Universe.
In Europe, the technique is described for the first time in the history of Java. Published in London in 1817 by Sir Thomas Stamphord Raffles, who had been a British governor for the island.