What are thermochromic inks? They are colouring agents characterised by their ability to, when printed on textiles, change colour in response to temperature fluctuations. Below their activation temperature they are coloured, and above their activation temperature they are clear or have a light hue. They are usually blended with static pigments, allowing them to change from one colour to another. 

Do the thermochromic inks offer other design possibilities rather than only change from one colour to another? What if thermochromic inks are mixed with static pigments in different proportions? What is the behaviour of prints produced using these mixtures when they are heated or cooled? What if multiple colours could be concealed or revealed at once? What if thermochromic colour mixtures are printed in layers on top of each other?What if thermochromic inks have different activation temperatures? And what if the states of thermochromic colour transitions between non-heated, heated, and cooled are properly visualised?

Marjan Kooroshnia is a textile designer and lecturer at the Swedish School of Textiles, University of Borås. Much of Marjan’s time as a Master’s student in Textile Design was spent at the printing lab, learning about thermochromic inksbehavior when printed on textiles and designing dynamic surface patterns. In her PhD research she has explored the design properties and potentials of leuco dye-based thermochromic inks when printed on textiles in order to obtain an understanding and facilitate the design of dynamic surface patterns. 

In this exhibition, she presents her Ph.D. thesis, in which she has investigated different methods to create diverse colour changing effects on textiles. The prints displayed in this exhibition show a wide range of aesthetic possibilities offered by thermochromic inks on textiles.