brainj00s-blog

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This is a collage contained in a teabag as part of a series of work contributing to the project 'Reconstruction, Deconstruction' using books as a starting point, I deconstructed the elements that contribute to a book such as  language. Researching into the concept of using other senses to communicate rather than sound and sight. I experimented with the use of Victorian flower language and the endless dictionary of flowers, other plants and their meanings. Inspired by artist Jennifer Collier and her use of teabags I decided to develop my own series of collages based on combining senses to convey as message. This collage depicts an extract from a love poem and violet petals, violets meaning love however the teabag has been coated with a layer of lavender scented wax, lavender can mean distrust, a message that I feel ties with the passage of text. This way not only are you using sight but also smell to understand the meaning of the collage.

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These faces are screen prints generated from linear drawings and collages, evolved from female members in old family photographs. With and Islamic heritage, I wanted to express a statement on the way some may view or prejudge Muslim women, for a project brief, entitled 'Identity'. The acetates printed on , were overlapped with images to create a linear design, giving the illusion of depth and movement. The colour palette was developed using Pantone colour app to determine the true tones in the original family photographs. The idea behind the transfer of the multiple face prints being not only a technical development from my linear collages and preparation towards these designs, but also a visual connotation of the facets of a person's character. The prints overlap to form a subtle pattern, in which on close examination one can see the individual people, a representation of how, when we make efforts to communicate and understand one another, preconceptions can change and stereotypical opinions can be broken down.

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After exploring the themes of human traces in my project entitled 'Memorial' and inspired by Ben Wilson and the concepts of turning bodily waste in to something more tasteful, I've been experimenting with pop-art influenced surface patterns, wanting to develop texture and pattern through the technique of marbling I decided to also apply the method onto the surface of some mod-rock sculptures I had been experimenting with in developing the saliva formations, however I've decided not to proceed with the mod-rock as the elaborate splat outlines were challenging to build from this dense material.

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This collage was also part of 'Reconstruction, Deconstruction' a subliminal visualisation of the plant Dill, which in the language of flowers means 'lust'. Personally I feel lust can be a more private emotion, hence the aperture hinting at the words "flower secret", other symbols contained in the piece include a figure in a provocative position, consciously hidden within the greenery surrounding the convex curve, the figure is cut from an illustration of the plant Dill and therefore represents lust; elements from a love poem such as "ever faster, ever more, ever closer", "the magic of our moment, so good, so rare, so new", and the organically shaped structural forms (that are pictures of designs for 'Perfume buildings'- as I associate fragrance with sexuality) are reminiscent of the human body.

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A sketchbook example of research into the effects of using medicine as a medium, for a project entitled 'Healing', I experimented with crushing tablets and medication into paint and inks, creating a powdery matte substance. Also, I explored blowing coloured inks with inhalers, here they can be seen dribbling from linear mouths, an idea to the progression of my work.

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This is a close-up of my final work contributing to 'Healing', the capsules are a visual summarisation of my research into what 'Healing' is, displayed in an anatomical fashion, the tablets all contain various ingredients from the branches of healing, including physical, mental and spiritual. On-site samples of peer's "happy places" as well as map cuttings of these areas, small crystals and gemstones that some consider spiritually helpful, medication in numerous forms and even comfort foods and symbols of other routines and objects that can contribute to healing.

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This is a small developmental piece based on 'Reconstruction, Deconstruction', using books as a starting point, I wanted to deconstruct the contributing factors such as language and how we can use sense other than sound and sight for communication. Firstly, exploring the use of Victorian flower language and how the use of smell, touch and even taste can convey a word or message, inspired by artists Devon Sioui and author Faye Harnest who compliment their paintings with braille phrases. I experimented with embossing flowers and their stems to create braille like formations in the paper, the shape and feel of the embossing being a word in its own right, due to the species of the flower. As flower language is focused mainly on terms of endearment, I decided to use braille love poems to detail the leaves on this particular piece, again linking back to my starting point by use of book.

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After exploring the themes of human traces in my project entitled 'Memorial' and inspired by Ben Wilson and the concepts of turning gruesome waste into something more tasteful, I've been experimenting with surface patterns and incorporated my development of marbling techniques into the spit formations, they are backed onto a photograph of the site where I plan to transfer these patterns by spray paint and stencil, a permanent memorial to those who have walked (and spat) along there.

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A sketchbook example for current work based on 'Memorial' looking into the connotations of the word, I decided to explore the concept of human traces, and in turn, spit shapes and formations, after developing pop art influenced surface patterns from these , I wanted to develop them with a medium that would provide me with similar, fluid "organic-ness" that I could achieve in my bright and bold colour palette, these pages document my findings with marbling techniques.

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An example from a more recent project based on 'Identity' my development of bold line drawings, coloured using oil pastel, edited over the photocopier and progressed into collages of relatives faces. Inspired by artist, Princess Hijab, I developed these illustrations to become screen-prints and pressed a series of statement images onto Islamic facial covers.

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These are some plant pots I created for ceramic project, hand slip casted by myself, I created decals by scanning and photo-shopping a series of mono-prints I worked on inspired by the psychedelic movement. The project was a live brief for an exhibition in Middleport Pottery Museum, Stoke-on-Trent in which my pieces where selected to headline the poster for the exhibit. 

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A petri dish piece in negative format

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These are a small series I created in compilation with my 'Healing' project, the petri dishes are made using materials I had collected from peer's "happy places"(mental healing) such as sand, soil and leaves , the 3D collages are inspired by artists Tim Noble and Sue Webster, other materials used include medication in solid tablets, some crushed and mixed with paint, others are wax moulds of the capsules packaging that contain flecks of colour. I used coloured inks , blown by an inhaler to portray bacterial shapes , the use of mediums is steered around the interpretation physical healing. 

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The illustrations above are actually self portraits of myself as work contributing towards a life drawing class, the pictures display myself in different positions, sitting and leaning, I decided not to include what was around me or what I was positioned against as I wanted to create the feel of floating or weightlessness, using fine-liners to outline shape and details, I used a mixture of emulsion, acrylic paint and glitter to give the effect of big, fluffy (and slightly magical) hair.

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Here is a painting I worked onto my friends back using acrylic paint. As my project title was 'Healing' I decided to research into physical , mental and spiritual forms of healing. Recording people's "happy places" (mental healing)and combining it with my research into scars and physical signs of healing I felt that it was relevant to combine the two ideas and have the image in a scar setting , the above is an altered version of the original with a play on the contrast of the colours.