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Mark-making

Collaboration piece:

What my peer added to my work:

What I added to my peer’s work:

Reflection:

My initial thoughts on working into someone else’s work was intimidation/worry but curiosity. I was intimidated because they would see the outcome of me essentially trying to improve their work and, with art being so subjective, I was nervous about my style being judged. However, I also realised that I’m essentially going to be judging them too in order to work into it. This was interesting to face as there are so many things you can do to work into someone’s work, a lot to consider, and when I got past the pressure it was intriguing to experience how much more I thought about each individual mark and colour and concept I was creating on their work.

Due to the fact that I was working from a, for a lack of better word, ‘simple’ print base, there were a lot of directions I felt I could go in and it allowed me to try different styles. I tried to be sympathetic to what I thought they’d have liked to be worked into their piece but also mix in my own imagination. The colour made me think of oranges and the winding gestural shapes made me think of vines and plants so that’s where I went. Had I had more time I would have varied the scale of the oranges and added more leaves and possibly other fruits or simple shapes like circles.

I prefer the outcome that my peer made to the work I produced earlier as I feel like it lifts it from the earthy tones I made and created a sharp contrast with the shapes and bright purple. I feel as if they made it what I wanted it to look like but I didn’t have the prints or full vision to put it together myself.

Today I’ve learnt that collaboration can be important for creative growth as it allows you to consider ideas and techniques and textures that you may have never thought of before. Also not to trust initial expectations when it comes to fear of the unknown, to just trust the process. I’ve also learnt how crucial development can be, here it was through trying out new ways of using mediums, textures, surfaces, incorporating products of old projects into new ones. The process of development has shown me how you can turn basic experimentation into a cohesive piece of work.

A challenge I faced was that I didn’t create a lot of full prints and rather created a few mini prints and textures etc, which I found was difficult to splice and layer afterwards. This is where I decided to bring in my stencils that I created in the previous lino printing session and I managed to create a dynamic piece that I was happy with (featured at top of collaboration section).

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Photoshop Collage

We began this session by discussing textures and patterns.

We then continued to walk around campus and take pictures of varying patterns and objects to be used to create a digital collage on Adobe Photoshop, as a response to an idea picked upon during the project or from our A-Z project.

After this we handed in our 5 favourite photos.

Later on we were shown how to set up photoshop and were set on a task to create a digital collage based off of the photos we had taken. At first I was struggling to figure out what direction I wanted to go with the collage but, after some discussion with my tutor, decided to build off of the fabrics in some of the photos, as I wanted to experiment with textiles more. From this I began constructing a garment that incorporated the textured fabrics, metal objects (e.g chain and keys in wind chime) and natural forms (e.f flowers) found in my photos in order to develop on the topic of man vs nature I’ve been interested in building on.

I struggled to work out the basic functions of photoshop but once I’d gotten past this and figured out where I wanted to take the collage, I was quite happy with the outcome. However, having had more time I would have tried creating a more complex dress or maybe multiple garments which incorporated more objects from the collection of photos.

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Feedback

This feedback has improved my confidence in the quality and amount of work that I’ve produced through this project so far.

It has also informed me clearly on how I should approach my organisation and writing style for the next project.

Furthermore, it’s allowed me to narrow down what I need to focus on to get my unit 1 project up to date for hand in.

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Lino Printing

Inspiration:

Gary Hume

Gary Hume explores the layering of patterns in a simple graphic style and, in particular, he has produced a lot of work which incorporates faces, eyes and plants which is what I wanted to explore in my prints. He uses broad planes of color and household gloss paint to suggest familiar objects. It combines ideas of audience engagement and relation with the art object drawn from early 20th century Minimalism, images of recognisable and familiar objects that reflect Pop Art. I let this inform my later prints where I wanted to explore more obvious narratives in the pieces.

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Exhibit & Display

Here we had to exhibit our work in a way that displays the narrative of our work.

An issue I ran into was that I left a lot of my work in my portfolio at home. I had some sketchbook pages and pictures of work I have done which all connected through the exploration of fashion/the female body. In order to develop this wall of work and solve the issue I ran into, I decided to create 2 new pieces to add which developed the bodice piece that I’d made whilst bringing in inspiration pulled from the artists I’ve also already explored, Ana Teresa Barboza. To pull the two together I illustrated a colourful naked female torso which is cut open and wearing my wire bodice that I created in the wood, metals and plastics workshop. The beautifully graphic image of the torn open stomach is specially where I’ve incorporated Barboza’s work and I feel as if it has displayed the message of man’s destruction over nature (here society forcing us to destroy our bodies for absurd beauty standards) that I’ve been trying to explore.

I also illustrated my ceramic animal into a brightly stylised hedgehog to develop on the purely nature focused part of my work.

The top of the exhibit starts with my beginning notes and sketches then gradually, as it moves down shows my process of creating the tangible 2d illustrated developments and then the 3D creations right at the bottom. Moving from flat sketches to vibrant and 3D art pieces

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Developing practical work

Here I tried to illustrate my accidental ceramic creation into a stylised animal character. I wanted to base the design off of the theme I’ve been exploring of man & nature’s interaction.

I created a stylised hedgehog here and drew the spikes like flames which represent the destructive relationship, where man wrecks nature.

This is the first time I’ve drawn a hedgehog before so my first attempt was unsuccessful but I looked at a few different pictures of hedgehogs and stylised drawings to gain a better understanding of the way they look and the way people stylise them. This made it easier to sketch as I could visualise the shapes needed to form its face then build off with colours and exaggerated shapes like the cheeks.

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Art page on Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/es_aart/

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Objects & Spaces

Copper coated steel rod bodice.

- Bent using mix of formers and hand bending (mostly the latter as I found the rod quite malleable if bent swiftly in tiny sections at a time).

- Cut using a hand guillotine

- Welded using spot welder

Measurements were very important in order to be able to weld at correct angles- especially around the chest plate area where ability to reach the desired sections highly obstructed by the rest of the bodice. This is what I did not like about the spot welder. Its design is very restrictive in size and structure as, especially if you are creating a 3D structure, it can be difficult to manoeuvre the piece in order to accurately weld the rods. I also noticed other's running into this same issue with their other materials. Not only this, but you can only weld two objects by placing them on top of one another which leaves a lot of untidy edges that can be difficult to get rid of- as you can see quite clearly on the top corners of the chest plates.

Unfortunately I was unable to complete this project to the full lengths I wished to take it, but the INITIAL THOUGHT PROCESS behind this simple copper rod bodice was to create a delicately structured upper garment piece which may be used like as a corset type under-garment which first became popular in the 16th century Europe, but reaching its peak in popularity in the Victorian era. Although, there is a twist of inspiration in the use of the rods from the hoop skirts which arose in fashion around the mid 1850s. However, the societal message that came from the use of these garments are not something which I believe in (for women to have to risk their health, or simply go to such great lengths, in order to adjust their bodies to what was deemed most desirable). So, this is where my mind started to wander into the idea of thinking of it maybe as the beginning of strong, yet still fashionable, piece of female upper body armour. The theme of strength is already easily delved into with the use of metal rods as the base structure and it is something I would love to build off of- maybe adding tin to the base structure for where the negative space is. Better yet, to either create two pieces- one of the delicate corset under garment and the other of a strong, empowering piece of armour; or to blend this into one piece which reflects both in order to stand against these stiff standards of women- an effective, sturdy upper armour piece with beautiful, feminine fine details added perhaps with dainty wire or intricately woven stranded cotton or adhered pieces of detailed, cotton woven tapestry to depict how beauty or femininity is not mutually exclusive to strength or power- in essence to try to reclaim this once restrictive, oppressive garment.

But bear in mind this this is my STRETCH TARGET/CONCEPT for this piece if I had all the time and resources available.

VISUAL INSPIRATIONS:

Above on the right side is a piece from Dolce and Gabbana's Spring 2013 collection, here they used weaved baskets which almost appear as an adaptation of the soft armour, cage-like garment- hoop-skirts. Whether this was their intention or not, the clear resemblance is there and the intricate beauty is what I was drawn to. They also explored bodices and skirts alone with equal beauty to this look, forming multiple, differing and equally detailed woven pieces.

Link to view more of these pieces from the collection: https://www.elle.com/runway/spring-2013-rtw/g16543/dolce-and-gabbana-spring-2013-rtw-detail/?slide=1

or if you scroll to look 82 you can view full basket part of the collection: https://www.vogue.com/fashion-shows/spring-2013-ready-to-wear/dolce-gabbana#review

Below displays Vivienne Westwood's 'reclaimant' of the hoop-skirts (aka crinoline) in her groundbreaking 'Mini Crini' from the S/S 1985 collection for the Anglomania line which aimed to represent unity in our opposition. Vivienne Westwood is one of the most iconic designers in fashion history. Nonconformist, eccentric, brilliant, talented, she has always followed her own instinct.

Link to her Anglomania collection page: https://www.viviennewestwood.com/en/collections/anglomania/anglomania-campaign-aw1819/

Link to a short slide about her exploration of the mini-crini: https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/vivienne-westwood-iconic-designs#slide-4

Nonetheless initially my REALISTIC PLAN, if given more time, was to more simply have used thin steel wire to create finer details on the bodice, similar to that in the images above and focused on creating a more interesting/complex structure for the straps, as well as, the negative space left in the chest plates. Furthermore, I would have welded a piece of rod to the edges of the curved rods at the back, to more clearly form the cuff-like look I was aiming for. This is due to the fact that, although it is a little rough around the edges, the concept was for the bodice to be functional and wearable; with it's current state, the edges of the wire leave it somewhat hazardous to get on and off as they are a little sharp so can easily catch or rip clothes or skin.

However, exploring a completely different concept, there is a certain rib-like characteristic that it mimics which I enjoy and think could be interesting to explore in the future- maybe a bodice which mirrors our internal anatomy (resembling the ribs, maybe use thin steel wire or other easily manipulated materials to form organs on the surface of the rod structure, or maybe even as hanging pieces within).

SKETCHES AND NOTES:

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Collaboration

Experimenting with multiple new techniques using brought in materials

-use of string and acrylic paints, polystyrene and ink or acrylic paint, bubbles and ink, scrunched paper with acrylic paint, pipette and ink and polystyrene stamps

Of all the experimentation this was my favourite. It brought about the realisation that I can create artwork which I a proud of that isn't a precise, realistic rendition of reality- which personally is a big accomplishment. I like the use of bright primary colours which compliment each other rather than clash as I thought they may. I tried to bring them together further by subtly introducing similar tones on the colour wheel such as purple to mesh with the blue and red then the green bubbles to mesh with the yellow. Although the effect created by the painted string can be interpreted to look many ways, I decided that I felt they appeared like mushrooms so wanted to accent this theme by using mushroom shaped polystyrene stampss. I printed both the cut out and the left over negative using dark blue paint to analogous with the colour theme, yet also to be bold and stand out amongst the gentle shapes behind.

Next time I would have tried to find a way to saturate the bubble liquid more so that the pattern are more obvious amongst the stronger colours. If this failed then I would try another technique with the bubbles, such as, mixing the liquid and ink 50:50 (minimum) in a tray then creating bubbles by blowing into a straw which has the other end submerged. I would use these more saturated bubbles by laying the paper gently over them to relay the shapes onto the paper.

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#FIRSTDAYFIRSTIMAGE

We are exploring diversity and equality. Here I have created a slide displaying an artist that inspires me and challenges stigmas surrounding diversity and equality through their work. I have chosen Logan Sylve (known best online as lilblackgoat). Sylve is an artist that I have followed on instagram for some time because I am drawn in by his unique style-rough and unbound and brimming with character- specifically relating to his ominously grinning 'black character'. I love the way that he both subtly in some, and boldly in other pieces, explores stigmatised topics such as sexuality, police brutality, feminine power, identity and so on. His work is something that can speak to a lot of audiences, whether it's those affected by what he depicts, or people who want to understand more about these topics who do not have these experiences or struggles, or even those who like to appreciate art at its most simplistic- face value- to just appreciate the stunning entanglements of brush strokes and interaction of colours on the canvas.

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3-D Sculpture

We were asked to create a 3d structure based off of something that represents ourselves and was required to be bigger than us- either in height when standing or when lying next to it. I decided to choose music and a sculpture which was taller than me whilst standing. I then created a sculpture of stacked drums, with the head sliding off and drumsticks sticking out from the gap. I really liked the finished product and the way that each piece of cardboard interacted with each other whilst clumsily stacked. However, with how I shaped the drumsticks, as well as the look of the head sliding off the drum, it almost appeared instead as stacked paint pots with the paint starting to pour and paintbrushes sticking out. Some may view this as a negative because the concept isn't accurately legible, nonetheless, I view this as a positive because I enjoy perceptual work and it seems that what this sculpture is perceived as is completely down to the individual. Paint-pot or drum kit or even birthday cake, it relates back to who I am and represents part of me so I am pleased still with the outcome.

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Kinetic

3-D sculpture to mimic/create movement

This sculpture was somewhat rushed, due to uncertainties in the beginning, however, I think it came out very well at the end and I am pleased with the outcome. There are many different ways that this can move: it spins in a jolted way by the hangers that it is hooked with; it can bounce from side to side by tugging gently on the weighted golden strings on the sides, which almost mimic the steering lines paraglider use; it bounces up and down by the long uncoiled spring wire; it swings side to side with the washers attached to the wire and finally the origami structures are bendable or squish-able, which also bounce around.

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Unit 1 of art foundation

'UNIVERSALLY HUMAN'

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First post ♥

This is the beginning of my, hopefully, extensive time on here. I am using this platform as a means of further displaying my creative mess and artistic ventures in a more polished and collected manner.

Below is a simple piece I created over the summer while exploring different styles of design, more specifically delving into tattoo design. I made an attempt to use simple linework and colour to bring to life my chosen concept/theme- this being warped vision/double vision. I portrayed this through the stretched and spidery font I decided to create for the word 'double vision' and the melting, warped eye. In terms of colour I chose to use blue and red. I decided to try to mimic the look of 3D images whilst they are still layered and blurry lines (before using the 3D glasses which bring it to life). I layered the lines to further recreate this effect but also to subtly mirror how having double vision looks.