Bayliss Youth Lecture 2025 - ECU Joondalup

Join us for the excitement of the 2025 Bayliss Youth Lecture, 'Plants worth dyeing for: Backyard chemistry for natural dyers'.

Presented by Helen Coleman  from Curtin University. 

Abstract: As public awareness of the environmental cost of global fast fashion increases, there is growing consumer support for sustainable, renewable and biodegradable alternatives to synthetic dyes. Embracing this change, Australian artists and textile designers are exploring natural colourants from our biodiverse flora - but developing new lightfast, washfast colours that meet the demands of today’s consumers is a huge challenge – and chemistry can help!

Using basic equipment and nontoxic mordants, Helen will show you how to test a variety of plants for their dye potential and explain why some botanical pigments are better than others for long-lasting colour. She will take you into the exciting world of dyeing with tannin, an abundant component of our local plants and share her research into natural dyes from Corymbia calophylla kino, commonly known as Marri gum.

This presentation shows the potential of natural dyes to be part of a sustainable Australian fashion industry, with a takeaway invitation to consider making room for science in the art studio.

Speaker Bio: Helen Coleman is a contemporary colourwoman, blending art and science to explore the natural dye properties of Western Australia’s endemic plants. Drawing on a 30-year career in chemical and botanical research, she combines scientific principles with creative practice to draw out the colours of plants and test them as pigments, paints, inks and dyes. In 2018 she completed a two-year residency at Contemporary Art Spaces Mandurah, culminating in her first solo exhibition, Windfall : Chemistry of the Dye Pot. She facilitates workshops across Australia and collaborates with artists, to develop new ways of working with local pigments and encourage a scientific approach to natural dyeing. In 2024 Helen was awarded the Curtinnovation Humanities Award for her PhD research exploring traditional and contemporary natural dye practices, to optimise dye colour outcomes from Corymbia calophylla kino (marri gum).

About the Lecture:

The Bayliss Youth Lecture is a free lecture organised by the Chemical Education Group of the Western Australian Branch of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute. This group was formally constituted in 1980 and aims to foster a close and continuing interaction among students, teachers and practicing chemists - both industrial and academic - with the objective of developing interest in and an understanding of the full ramifications of chemical science.

This lecture is particularly suited to Year 10 - 12 students studying Chemistry but will be of interest to a broader audience including those studying fashion, textiles, arts and  this with a passion for sustainability in general.