Studio Lizane Louw

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Studio Lizane Louw

Photography-led fine art and textile research. A fieldwork-driven practice exploring heritage craft, material culture and visual narrative.

Studio Lizane Louw & Atelier Māya. Artist, Visual Researcher & Journalist — Berlin

Lizane Louw works across photography, long-form visual storytelling, and material practice. Her research-led work explores environmental change, cultural memory, and human–land relationships through sustained fieldwork. Her practice is informed by long-form research across Asia, Europe, and Africa. Her work is held

in private collections and by designers internationally. She is the founder of Atelier Māya, a Berlin-based textile research atelier focused on heritage printing traditions, natural dyes, and earth pigments.

04/06/2026

Atelier Māya Summer Print Lab

A five-day research intensive exploring cloth, colour, print, and material practice in Berlin.

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This August, Atelier Māya launches its inaugural Summer Print Lab.

Since opening the doors of Atelier Māya in Berlin, I have received many internship requests, CV’s and messages from artists, designers and aspiring printmakers seeking opportunities to spend more time immersed in textiles, print, and material practice.

Many were not looking for a one-day workshop. They were looking for a deeper experience: more experimentation and guidance on developing a practice, and also a greater understanding of how contemporary textile work can be shaped through research and making.

For that reason, I developed the first Atelier Māya Summer Print Lab.

Running from 17–21 August 2026, this small-group research intensive is designed for those who wish to immerse themselves more fully in print, colour, cloth, and material exploration.

Across five days, participants will explore how ideas can be developed through colour, mark-making, and material intelligence. Through print thinking, block printing, indigo, wax resist, responsible colour systems, botanical colour, and contemporary approaches to surface design, participants will be encouraged to experiment, test, question, and make.

Together, we will develop a deeper understanding of process, material, and practice through observation, experimentation, and making. I will share insights into the methods and material investigations that inform my own practice, alongside the work of the master printmakers I continue to study.

Participants are also invited to continue their work during a complimentary weekend of independent studio practice following the programme.

The programme welcomes both established practitioners and those at the beginning of their practice.

Please note that Atelier Māya does not offer internships or employment. The Summer Print Lab has been created as a way of sharing the research, methods, and material investigations at the heart of the atelier.

🔗 in bio

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03/06/2026

From the Māya Anthology: Stories in Cloth

Vesta, Match, circa 1920s–40s
Phyllis Barron and Dorothy Larcher
Hand-block printed textile samples
Barron & Larcher Studio, England

What draws me to these samples is not only what they teach about block printing and pattern design. What holds my attention is the use of colour.

The palette is restrained and earthy. Soft rusts sit beside warm browns, stone greys, and unbleached cloth. There are no bright colours competing for attention.

The more I study these textiles, the more I realise that Barron and Larcher were not designing with colour only, they designed relationships between colour, cloth, and ground.

Barron and Larcher are best known for their hand-block printed textiles and use of natural dyes. In the twentieth century, they printed cloth using carved wooden blocks, natural colour, and traditional printing methods. Madder, cutch, iron, and other natural dyes formed an important part of their practice.

This week, I am preparing fabrics through immersion mordanting using three tannin-rich materials. I am working with gallnut extract and myrobalan. I am also testing a finely ground gallnut that is entirely new to me. It is a different material upon which my new botanical colour palette will be built.

Historical dyers understood that mordants and tannins were not simply used to prepare cloth. They were active participants in the development of colour.

These samples raise a question that guides my research. Are we designing colours, or are we designing relationships between colour, cloth, and negative space?

I am looking forward to seeing how madder and cutch printed with woodblocks will behave on these mordanted grounds.

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‘Vesta, Match’ — Three textile samples on page 113 of Barron and Larcher's sample book, volume two (2001.1.113). From the collections of the Crafts Study Centre, University for the Creative Arts.

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Māya Anthology: All our work and shared knowledge are grounded in museum archives, textile research, and lived practice with artisans.

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27/05/2026

Field Notes from the Atelier

When Jillian brought her design students from Western Carolina University into the atelier, the goal was not to introduce a new printing technique. As she shared before the workshop, she wanted her students “to experience a working Berlin artist” and to spend time “making cool stuff.”

What unfolded became something far more creative and layered. This group of designers encountered what we call material intelligence: an understanding of material that emerges through observation, exploration, and restraint.

Working with a limited set of tools and palette, the designers explored Print Thinking. The methodology we are developing focuses on how a single block can be rotated, layered, interrupted, and repeated until entirely new visual languages begin to emerge.

“Deconstructing a single stamp to get many stamps is fun, and using a single stamp helps me get more creative,” Payton reflected, while Elena quietly observed that she was “starting to learn less is more.”

There was remarkable respect and consideration for the materials. These designers studied surface, layering, and composition with care. Some worked with focus while others moved intuitively between exploration and disruption.

Knox described feeling “free to explore without consequence,” surprised by how quickly forms could evolve through experimentation and layering.

Again and again, the designers spoke about entering a state of flow. Sarah reflected on how unexpectedly easy it was to become immersed in the process.

At the end of the session, the prints no longer felt like exercises in technique. They became records of experimentation and creative expression. Everyone began with the same limited vocabulary of forms, yet no two outcomes were the same.

Thomas perhaps articulated it best: “I discovered how much joy a life dedicated to art can spread and how mastery of simplicity can be the most powerful.”

Thank you to and the designers of Western Carolina University for bringing such openness and creativity into the atelier.

We are inspired!

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13/05/2026

Block Print, Wax Resist & Indigo

14 June · Atelier Māya, Berlin

Five participants.
Each working at their own custom-designed 2 metre print table.

A full day inside a working textile research atelier exploring block printing, molten wax, natural indigo, and resist print practice.

The session is shaped by ongoing fieldwork and material studies with master printers and resist artisans across India.

Join the session to learn the stories behind the crafts, see references and process from the practitioners who continue to inspire our work, and explore contemporary textile printing through the philosophy of Print Thinking.

Wax establishes resistance. Indigo reveals the print process. Come work with our shades of Māya Berlin Blue.

Work with hand-carved wood blocks, plant-based wax blends, natural indigo vats, and Māya eco colour systems developed inside the atelier.

Five seats. Five tables. Always.
Most editions sold out.
🔗in bio.

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12/05/2026

Block Print, Wax Resist and Indigo:

Field Notes from our First Public Wax Resist & Indigo Session

This weekend we welcomed a small group into Atelier Māya for our first public wax resist and indigo workshop.

The session built on months of research, testing, refining our plant-based wax recipes, indigo studies, and conversations around colour and slow craft.

Inside the atelier, participants explored mark-making with molten wax, hand-carved wood blocks, special brush tools, and sponges.

The warm Berlin weather helped stabilise the vats naturally. During the session, we watched cloth move from green to blue in the open air as oxidation slowly revealed what we now call our shades of Māya Berlin Blue.

What we love most is that nothing in this process can be controlled. Wax resists unpredictably. Indigo develops slowly and rewards patience, both from us as we care for and feed the vats, and during the workshop itself, when participants dye their work.

Participants quickly discover that the process is not about perfection, but about experimentation.

“I’d like to leave the workshop with feeling that I have found a new hobby,” aZade wrote before the session began.

By the end of the workshop she reflected:

“Made me feel very good & inspired. How wax works on cloth was super interesting. Noticed it takes time to master it. But lovely experience.”

Kathleen described the process:

“Wonderful experience. Loved the surprise in how the wax + dye revealed unexpected marks.”

For Katie, the experience became a return to making:

“It was lovely to try something new and work with my hands for a change.”

Sara reflected on the atmosphere inside the atelier:

“One of my favourite Berlin experiences. I loved the warmth, generosity and collective energy here.”

Atelier Māya is a block printing atelier and textile research studio operating as a contemporary print lab. The studio explores pattern, colour, and material through block printing, wax resist, and responsible colour systems.

We are happy to share the crafts that we love so deeply.

Block Print, Wax Resist and Indigo 🔗 in bio

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04/05/2026

Block Print & Sashiko — A Māya x Keiko Experience

Where Print Meets Stitch: A Textile Study Developed Inside the Atelier

For the past year, Atelier Māya and Keiko have been developing a shared textile practice between block printing and sashiko stitching inside the atelier in Berlin.

What began as conversations around repair, geometry, repetition, and slow design gradually evolved into a full-day studio format where print and stitch continuously respond to one another through cloth and colour.

Developed through experimentation, field research, and ongoing studio practice, Atelier Māya opens for small group print and stitch sessions throughout the year.

Participants work independently at custom-designed 2 metre print tables while moving between hand-carved wooden blocks, sashiko geometry, test printing, and slow material exploration.

Inside the sessions, we work with an archive of more than 200 hand-carved woodblocks, Keiko’s sashiko patterns, eco-friendly inks mixed in-house, natural fibres, and thread.

The focus is process rather than outcome. The sessions take place inside a working textile research atelier where block printing is explored as a material and design discipline through rhythm, repetition, colour, and cloth.

Throughout the day, Lizane also shares new larger-format textiles available for exploration. This new print and stitch surface was developed through the ongoing Māya Flow studies, exploring creative restraint, thread, colour, and textile as wall art.

See you behind the print tables.
Māya × Keiko
ateliermāya.eu l keikooboshi.com

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02/05/2026

Block Print & Sashiko: A Māya x Keiko Experience

24 May · Atelier Māya, Berlin

Eight participants.
Eight custom-designed 2 metre print tables.

One full day inside a working textile research atelier. The day moves between block printing and sashiko stitching.

You work independently, building your own textile language through repetition, rhythm, colour, and stitch.

Print establishes structure. Stitch responds.

You work with hand-carved wood blocks, Māya eco inks mixed in-house, new print surfaces developed by the atelier, and sashiko tools from Keiko's own practice.

The textile develops across both processes. You leave with a personal print archive, and a process you can continue or replicate independently.

We keep the doors open until everyone feels they have completed their work.

Eight seats. Eight tables. Always.
Most editions in 2025 sold out.
First session of 2026.
🔗 in bio.

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24/04/2026

Block Print, Wax Resist and Indigo: Field Notes from our First Community Session

The wax resist explorations at Atelier Māya are inspired by field research and time spent in Bhujpur, Gujarat, where we studied block printing with wax alongside master batik artist Anwar Khatri.

What we explore in Berlin builds on the teachings of the master craftsmen we work with through our research.

We love resist printing and are drawn to resist techniques because of the rawness and unpredictability.

Wax is inherently unstable. It can drip, splatter, crack, and resist in ways that cannot be fully controlled. The same application does not produce the same result twice.

Wax printing with woodblocks requires a different way of working. It demands attention and a willingness to accept mistakes and to be open to experimentation.

“It was really lovely to experiment. It was trickier than I expected,” Charlotte noted after the session.

It is a challenge. The process sharpens attention and rewards patience.

“I felt free and confident enough to explore and test out the various techniques,” Kate reflected.

Through test printing, participants develop confidence. Everyone finds flow in creative experimentation. Control over the final outcomes becomes less important. It is process-led creativity.

“Like pure magic, seeing the transformation of a blank fabric into a piece of art,” Karina described.

Colour enters only once the resist has been established.

“I was very inspired. I was surprised that when it first comes out of the vat it is green and then goes blue,” Patricia noted.

Indigo reveals itself slowly. The colour we know and love transforms through oxidation. Dyeing with indigo cannot be rushed. It asks for patience.

By the end of the session we know it is not about what is made, but an understanding of how to work through process, material, colour and with slow crafts.

This is where our work and research continues.

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Block Print, Wax Resist and Indigo
A small group studio session within a working textile research studio.
🔗 in bio

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23/04/2026

The Tools of a Master, Anwar Khatri

The past four months of test printing and mark-making have been challenging and transformative. We have explored wax resist in Bali and Malaysia, and at the end of last year spent time in Bhujpur, Gujarat, India, exploring block printing with wax.

We were introduced to the tools our teacher and mentor, master batik artist .baat , uses in his creative practice.

Anwar’s tools are fascinating. A mason’s float is used to level and compress the sand base of the traditional printing table, alongside iterations of the one-of-a-kind Anu Pen, Anwar’s own tool for drawing with wax resist.

In his studio, he uses woodblocks, bundled sticks, brushes, sponges, metal forms, and tools he designed himself. Each is chosen for its unique effect and carries years of exploration.

These instruments form part of the woodblock and wax traditions and his practice shaped through research and exploration, spanning more than 15 years.

In our own explorations, we are learning to listen to the medium and build on the knowledge of our mentor.
Wax is highly responsive; imperfections and cracks are part of the language we love.

In resist, tools never behave the same way twice. The same effect cannot be recreated. We value the mistakes and the accidents. Machines cannot replicate these designs.

Building on Anwar’s teachings, we have begun developing our own plant-based wax in the studio. We are exploring wax resist with natural indigo and rooibos tea. What we learned in Bjupur continues in Berlin.

Anwar shares his knowledge with confidence. He understands the rules and breaks them with elegance. We admire his spirit of exploration and commitment to evolving the language of surface design.

Anwar’s work, and the pieces we created under his guidance, are displayed throughout the atelier. They form part of the space and the stories we share.

We highly recommend a visit to Bhujpur for Anwar’s craft, and for the vegetable samosas in the village and small cups of chai, made by Anwar’s wife, which somehow taste better than anywhere else.

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10/04/2026

Les Amis x Māya: Spring Rhythm

I started Māya in the middle of ‘24, feeling rather isolated in Berlin. Being from Cape Town and used to a “lekker vibe” around me, it was hard to find a sense of community here.

I was searching for something I could not find. I wanted to ground myself in my practice and research, and decided to build a community rooted in creative curiosity and an appreciation for exploration through slowcrafts.

Since launching our workshops in November ‘24, we have welcomed over 300 participants into the atelier. What has grown from this is more than a series of print experiences. It has become a block print and craft community. We are grateful to build Atelier Māya with our small circle of friends.

This week, we hosted our first collaboration with Les Amis, welcoming members of their community for a test print exploration.

Today, I find myself reflecting on the group of women we met, the conversations shared across the print tables, the focus and flow, the laughter, and the short but meaningful exchanges we had.

“I am looking forward to learning the story behind block printing, to get a feel for it and to try out a craft that is new to me.”
— Bara

There is something powerful in watching someone try something for the first time. The initial hesitation, then curiosity, and then a shift. That moment when fear of failure settles into patterns. I love witnessing that. I love seeing confidence grow.

“Experimenting while using minimal tools helped to tame the perfectionist in me!”
— Bara

“I am encouraged and inspired, surprised how many different styles can be made.”
— Katharina

“It was such a wonderful play and exploration!”— Saraï

"I feel absolutely relaxed, light and inspired to create.”— Natalie

“It made me forget about time. My thoughts, worries and insecurities were fully silenced.” — Bara

My heart is full.

To .cc, thank you for trusting us with your community.

And to those who joined us, thank you for your openness and your willingness to colour outside the lines.
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Adresse

Genslerstraße 13A
Berlin
13055

Telefon

+491602373843

Webseite

http://lizanelouw.com/

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