ALGIR PANTS

Almost a month of work. White linen, sewn by hand at home. A black tea bath so the tannins would bite, then turmeric and a spray of iron water, which turned them a deep mustard brown. Then an accident: I spilled a lime drink on them. To get the stain out, they went into a ten-minute lime bath, which turned them almost neon yellow. Three prints went on: an Algerian woman holding a rifle, a line in Darija (Algerian Arabic), and on the back a portrait of a man from an African tribe with tribal scars on his face, inspired by an Andy Stott album cover. Last came the indigo vat, and a vinegar bath after it turned them this mint green.