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Candida Powell-Williams

Candida Powell-Williams creates sculptures, performances and moving image films that investigates how we create identity though objects and memory, as well as exploring the effect of storytelling in the digital age. Williams sees sculpture and performance as inseparable, her installations becoming an immersive experience that the audience can ‘activate’; the space becomes a space of opportunities.

The Vernacular History of the Golden Rhubarb This installation at Bosse & Baum brings together all the elements of her practice. Whilst researching at the British School in Rome, Powell-Williams collected implausible stories that have been documented in such a way to make them believable. The Installation is based on objects from these stories. The exhibition also has moving image parts to it, but these do not physically exist in the show, as they are activated by QR codes outside the room, provoking the discussing between storytelling and technology. What I find interesting about this exhibition is the way the performances aspects live on throughout the duration of the show. The artist held a performance workshop before the exhibition using the sculptures in the show – which was documented and made into a new moving image work that could be shown at the private view and for the duration of the show. The artist’s talks about not having the theatre budget to do performances every day of the show, so this is a good way of making the performance exist without it just being pure documentation. Alongside the show, Powell-Williams is making a children’s book that will also double as an instruction manual for interacting with the exhibition.

^^^Boredom and its Acid Touch, frieze live 2017, 5 x 30 min performances, London

These performances use characters from illuminated medieval marginalia (manuscripts).  The performers pause in yoga-like positions, inviting the viewer to photograph them, exploring how the performance will ‘live on’ after it is over. Powell-Williams is also commenting on our changing relationship to idleness, lived through our phones, and on social media. The work has been transformed into GIFs, further preserving the work in the digital world. The artist changes the costumes and characters daily, working with choreographers to build a language of cyclical, repetitive and mesmerising gestures.

^^^Cache, Art Night, 1st July 2017, Devonshire Square, London Again, this installation is interactive and requires performers or an audience. It should be noted that unlike Monster Chetwynd, Powell Williams rarely performs in her work herself. For this installation, the artists has taken inspiration from the history of Devonshire Square – the warehouses were started by the East India Trading Company in 1768 and stored textiles and pieced goods from Bengal. For the installation the artist has taken this historical reference and added in references from popular culture and mythologies, such as the cartoon movie Robin Hood.

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Monster Chetwynd

Working mainly with puppetry and costume, Marvin Gaye Chetwynd - formally Marvin Gaye Chetwynd and Spartacus Chetwynd - creates comical and carnivalesque performances and films. She is best known for her improvised reworkings of iconic moments from cultural history and her performances usually rely on working with structures that allow for improvisation, which often lead to a truly chaotic scene. 

As we can hear in the Tate shots video, Chetwynd enjoys being able to make something truly dramatic from cheap and basic materials - her costumes primarily being made of cardboard and latex. When you work in this way, the materials often dictate the outcome which can be very visually exciting. 

What I am learning through all of my recent research are that there are many different levels to ‘performance’. Chetwynd has worked alot with both live performance and film making. With a live performance, it exists only in that time frame, unless of course you film it. If you film it - yes it can reach a wider audience and exist over time - but does it lose its authenticity?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEOz1HkD1Fw - Tate Shots - ‘My work is about boosting moral’

Working mainly with puppetry and costume, Marvin Gaye Chetwynd - formally Spartacus Chetwynd) - creates comical and carnivalesque performances and films. She is best known for her improvised reworkings of iconic moments from cultural history.

http://blogs.arts.ac.uk/wimbledon/2016/01/25/part-one-performance-management-an-interview-with-marvin-gaye-chetwynd/

http://blogs.arts.ac.uk/wimbledon/2016/01/25/part-two-performance-management-an-interview-with-marvin-gaye-chetwynd/

‘I work with aids that are apparently called ‘hooks’ in the theatre word, so I will train you to be able to do a routine of action, for example, a series of mimes that add up to tell a story or a series of dance poses that result in a dance. Then, if within the exaction of the performance you are lost as to what and where you are meant to be, you can rely on this ‘hook’ to suddenly start to enact the series we learnt, with no need to seem to be in the right place or timing. It works as a confidence boost as the audience are none- the- wiser. They do not know that you were not meant to be doing this. They look at you and think “wow, that performer really knows what they are doing!” The hook / instructed action can also be extremely simple. It can be to ‘stand still’ or to ‘wander about laughing’.’  (FROM LINK ABOVE)  

^^^The idea that a performance doesnt have to be something big is something I need to bring into my own practice. It is a well known theatre technique to incorporate a simple movement or action when you have forgotten the role, and I think it would be fun and interesting to incorporate this into everyday life. For example when you have forgotten what you were going to do or say in a real life situation, then there could be a really random and ridiculous movement you could do in order to remember it. Perhaps this could be one of the roles for my characters I have been developing. 

http://www.thewhitereview.org/feature/interview-with-spartacus-chetwynd/

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Franz Erhard Walther

German artist Franz Erhard Walther uses participatory objects to engage his audience. Working from the late 1950s to present day, his work bridges the boundaries between performance, sculpture and audience participation. 

Walther sees his sculptures as places for the body, inhabitable spaces that modify the body’s appearance as well as the sculptures appearance. By presenting multiple formal solutions and actions (which the artist terms ‘activations’) to the public, the artist reinterprets the definition of the artistic object, as well as the relationship between art and the viewer. 

Whilst Walther’s work is different to my own practice in terms of form, style and colour, what I can draw from his work is the idea of simple movement or roles that can be performative. His ‘activations’ are very simple, often only one motion or movement is involved, which helps to create a stronger visual impact. However, Walther has talked about his work as not performative, as the action and the movement are not intended for an audience. I find this interesting - is it only a performance if there is an audience?

His works are often textiles based, which resonates with my practice. By using a tactile medium such as material, which allows for movement, rather than static objects and materials, he is inviting the audience in. He talks about the material that he uses as ‘a set of conditions rather than a finite object’. http://www.museoreinasofia.es/en/exhibitions/franz-erhard-walther

What he is implying within his work, is that the body is already a sculpture and his sculptures are merely an extension to the body - much like Franz West and Rebecca Horn. He is using the body as a starting point for sculpture, which I feel is what I am doing within my own practice. 

Werksatz (Workset) 2008

Ummantelung, (1964), at Werksatz, 2008

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Sergei Diaghilev - The Ballets Russes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Chq1Ty0nyE (reimagined version of ‘Parade’)

Ballet uses the human body to express story and emotion. There are no words, so like old cinema, the performers have to exaggerate their body movements. Costume can be an important part of helping the audience understand the story of a Ballet. 

Sergei Diaghilev was a Russian art critic, ballet organiser and financier and founder of the Ballets Russes - an experimental ballet the likes which people had never seen before. In 1909 in Paris, he introduced Parisian theatre-goers to colourful, bold sets, athletic dancers and costumes often designed by abstract and surrealist artists. This was completely in contrast to traditional ballet at the time, although the dancers in the Ballet Russes drew on existing traditions of ballet. Diaghilev collaborated with composers, choreographers, designers and performers, yet had complete control in most of the other aspects of the final productions. He made sure there was a close integration between the story, music, choreography and design - creating an overall impact that was more than each of the individual elements. 

The first Ballet Russes seasons costume and set designs were by Russian artist Léon Bakst. Inspired by Art Nouveau, his bold colours and swirling patterns reimagined the dance productions as total works of art. The designs and colours used in Ballets Russes productions forged a new aesthetic in the 20th century. Knowledge of the company's revolutionary and unorthodox ballets spread around Europe and filtered through to theatre, fashion and daily life, including interior design. 

Costumes for brigands in Fokine's ballet Daphnis and Chloé, designed by Léon Bakst, 1912. Victoria & Albert Museum, London 

^^^Costume for the Chinese Conjuror from Parade, designed by Pablo Picasso, 1917. Museum no. S.84&A-1985, © Victoria & Albert Museum, London 

Picasso was one of the most significant artists to collaborate with the Ballet Russes. His work in London in 1919 on their production of The Three-Cornered Hat helped revitalise the company, paving the way for other celebrated artists including Henri Matisse and later Howard Hodgkin and David Hockney to take their work to the stage. In his costume for the ‘Chinese Conjuror’ from ‘Parade’, the main torso in oversized and has bright, textural motifs. There are definitely connections between Picasso’s work and the work of Bakst, as they both use strong colour with black patterning. Perhaps this was because Diaghilev wanted to keep a running theme throughout his productions. 

^^^ Costume for ‘Parade’ by Picasso.

The costume above is much more experimental. The dancer would have had little or no movement, their vision being impaired considerably. The only body parts visible in the costume are the feet, which brings all the attention to the movement of them. This work is decisively more cubist, a three-dimensional recreation of one of Picasso’s paintings.  

Diaghilev also worked with progressive Russian painters Mikhail Larionov and Natalia Goncharova to design beautifully elaborate costumes.  Like Picasso, they combined elements of cubism and traditional Russian folk art to create different shapes for dance. These shapes, whilst extreme, still allowed the dancer full range of movement, unlike Picasso’s. These sculptural costumes often used heavy felt, padding, and cane. Goncharova’s costume design for underwater tale Sadko (1916 - pictured below), saw exquisite sea creatures created through the use of hand-painted silks, wire shaped headpieces & tails, appliqués, and ombre fins. 

^^^French painter Henri Mattisse’s used shape and contrast to create beautifully minimalist patterns when he designed the costumes for The Song of The Nightingale (1920). 

By far the most avant-garde costumes of Ballet Russes are those designed by Giorgio de Chirico and Pavel Tchelitchev. Italian surrealist De Chirico designed f architectural costumes for The Ball (1929), which featuring brick wall, column, and arch graphic motifs. The use of black outlining and pattern is frequent throughout all of the Ballet Russes costumes, and helps to create pieces that will be noticeable from afar as well as have an impact up close. 

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Tutti in Maschera (All in Mask), Piero Polato

‘30 ways to make carnival costumes! Whimsical, creative, non-conformist and cheap’ 

When I got this book out of the library, I didn’t realise it was all in Italian. However, the images and diagrams have been extremely helpful for visualising different simple ways in which I can create shapes on the body. The fact that it is a language I cant understand means that I have to interpret the images my own way rather than abiding to their instructions, which I think is good as it means I can put my own spin on things without getting too engrossed in their methods. 

Most of the costumes in the book use this simple idea of drawing around the body and making a pattern from that. This method creates oversized shapes that can be adjusted simply using ties or stitching. 

^^^ Using a net material and knotting ribbon (or other material onto it), again using a simple pattern to create the body of the costume.

^^^Adding a hoop which hangs on the shoulders to add width to a costume

^^^This is based around a pattern involving a large sheet with a head hole cut into it - a simple and quick way to cover the whole body in a material. I like the idea of obscuring the face too, as that will change the way the body interacts with the space. 

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‘Carnival!’book research

These costumes are about creating a character, a new identity - you become someone else completely when you are performing. 

^^ The caboclo de lanca (lancer warrior) costumes of the rural maracatus

^^^ A Chivarrudo masquerader gallops on his ‘horse’ in Papalotla, Tlaxcala, Mexico.

^^^ The Tuxau, acting as a shaman and protector of the rural maracatu, Brazil.

^^^ A carnival ‘bear’, Brazil (Large bear mask over shredded fabric or velvet bodysuit.

^^^ Giraffe masqueraders, Jacmel, Haiti

^^ Large carnival costume preparation

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Paulina Olowaska - Slavic Goddesses and The Ushers

Paulina Olowaska draws upon modernist utopias from American and European popular culture but primarily draws inspiration from socialist Poland. Her work explores feminism and consumerism, both historical and cultural through painting, drawing and collage. The series of work I am interested in is ‘Slavic Goddesses and The Ushers’, created for the Fondazione Furla in Milan. The work references Polish artist Zofia Stryjenska who was prominent in the interwar period of the 20s and 30s. Stryjenska’s work often portrays the pre-christian Slavic Gods - the most recognisable being The Slavic Idols series of lithographs - and draws upon Polish folklore. 

^^ The Slavic Gods, series of 15 Lithographs, 1918

^^^ The girl and the hunter, between 1930 and 1934, gouache, cardboard, water-based paint

‘Slavic Goddesses and the Ushers’ draws upon Olowska’s interest in female figures from the past. The costumes were originally made for a performance in New York at The Kitchen in 2017 (Slavic Goddesses – A Wreath of Ceremonies), and I think it is interesting to see the work on a mannequin in a gallery rather than moving on a body in a performance. This is similar to Nick Cave’s work, who displays his costumes from the performances as a work of art in their own right in gallery spaces. In the galley, the audience are shown around by four ushers (one being the artist herself wearing a large brimmed hat), who perform live interventions, which bring the costumes to life and activate the scene, leading the audience through a magical, evocative experience. 

The 6 costumes themselves are based on Zofia Stryjenska’s painting Bożki słowiańskie (Slavic Deities, 1918) and feature large headdresses with elaborate decorations, whilst the rest of the costumes seem rather humble in comparison. The costumes represent the goddesses of mischief, prosperity, fate, spring, winter, and the skies. They were selected for the Bessie Award for Costume Design in 2017.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=15&v=pFX8ZvsHF8c

Below: from the performance at The Kitchen, NYC

The idea of drawing upon historical and cultural sources for inspiration is something that appeals to me. Perhaps I could look back at past British dress instead of looking at carnivals, which are from a culture that I do not particularly associate with.

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Beata Wrobel - Hats

Recent graduate of the University of Central Lancashire, Wrobel’s work explores dreams, memories and emotions as values that exist outside the constraints of commercialism and capitalism. Her work has a sense of nostalgia about it, drawing upon memories and experiences from her own childhood, reimagining them and making them into objects. 

From her website about ‘Hats’ - 

‘According to Gaston Bachelard’s ‘The Poetics of Space’ one of the primarily instincts for human beings is a need for shelter.

My artwork is about identity, passing time, memories and childhood. It is very personal, but not obvious as I do not like to expose my life to the public. I am using objects to talk about my life and emotions, without showing too much. I often collaborate with my child and through this process, I am doing the sort of retrospection of my past and my childhood. This kind of observation and the way I am working are helping me to understand and express myself better. I like to observe my son and analyse how he is responding to art and things which are important to me. How can he collaborate or interact with my creations. Cooperation with him as well as his curiosity, imagination and brilliant, often mysterious and humours ideas help me to let go and become a child again, which brings more freedom into my art work. All that we do together, evolves into better quality relations between us.

I do not have many memorabilia from when I was a child and perhaps that is why the reminiscence of objects, dreams and emotions I had in my childhood are often appearing in my art work. I am trying to carefully select this memories and put them back into reality by transforming them into objects.’

The way that Wrobel works with her child in a collaborative way, is similar to the ideas of play that I have been looking at in the previous project. I have also found that working with my sisters in this way has allowed me to bring more freedom into my artwork, and I believe i should continue this collaborative process within my practice. 

The hats themselves are simple in shape and form, and I think it is the colour that makes them more humorous, along with the fact that they obscure all vision. Unlike much of the costumes that I have looked at, I feel these become one with the body, they are not just a costume or an outfit they are part of it - an extension to it. This is also encouraged by their organic form, the rounded lumps and bumps reference many aspects of nature, which is enhanced by placing them in a natural surrounding such as rocks on a beach, where they lay like washed up corals. Obviously these sculptures were designed to be worn, and again throughout my research it seems that artists are finding different ways to display their work without the need for a ‘performer’ or ‘wearer’. 

MARSHMELLOW BARBIE - barbie, marshmellows, string 

Whilst this is designed for a toy and not for a human body, using barbie dolls and other dolls could be a good way to visualise works on a smaller scale before they can be created into larger works. As I am finding out, good quality material comes at an expense, so using smaller pieces of fabric to make sculptures for dolls would be a good way to make miquettes of my sculptures. 

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Sylvia Palacios Whitman - Green Hands

https://vimeo.com/84516181

Most prominent in the 1970s performance art scene and a contemporary of Joan Jonas (must see her work at the Tate) ‘Chilean-American artist Sylvia Palacios Whitman, creates live images that exaggerate the everyday through their simple actions and deadpan humour.’ Tate (http://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-modern/exhibition/bmw-tate-live-exhibition-ten-days-six-nights/whitman-leckey) 

In an interview for her show at the Whitney Museum of American art, Whitman talks about Green Hands, and how she likes the idea that ‘it can change you and become a part of you’, transforming your everyday routine. In the interview she also talks about how she draws her ‘extensions’ and performances out first and then works directly from them - there is a distinctive visual connection between her original drawing and the finished performance. I find this interesting as it is similar to my practice.  https://whitney.org/WatchAndListen/256

Palacios pieces were typically performed by untrained participants and regularly incorporated found and manufactured props, both found and made – such as cup and saucer, envelopes, telephones, beds, skirts, needles and thread and paper. These props were usually discarded after the performance. Temporary is an important word here - how does the performance exist if the props are gone? Does it exist as just a recording? Or will new props be made for every live performance? 

The artists movement in the performance was exaggerated - it had to be - because the giant hands means she was fully aware of every movement she could make. Thinking back to the anatomy of the actor talk I went to during interchange, in old cinema in the early 1900s, actors movement had to be exaggerated because of the big cameras and no sound. Actors had to say with their body what they couldn't say with their voice. The development of technology and cameras meant that the need for this sort of movement evaporated. However, I think performing in this way is more theatrical, and encourages you to think about expressing emotion in every part of your body, which in turn make the performance more alive. I think this is why I am drawn to sculptures and garments that restrict movements.  

https://vimeo.com/84519556

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Jonathon Baldock and Florence Peake, Shudder Judder, performance at Tate St. Ives

After having a major artistic block over the easter holidays, seeing this image really inspired me. The hat is clearly an oversized version of a sombrero - a stereotypical Mexican hat. Things that are oversized look more comical, and also look more sculptural. It looks as though it has bells attached, which will give the garment a level of sound. Sound is something that I have been curious about after the exhibition ‘Dress Up & Get Down, Welcome to Funky Town’ in Liverpool before easter. Sounds as well as smells I think are instantly recognisable, and have the ability to remind us of a particular memory, person or place. Sound within garments and costumes also means that the movement of the wearer is able to be heard - every movement will result in some sort of sound. 

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Art/Fashion in the 21st century,  Oakley Smith, Mitchell Kubler, Alison

^^^ Bernhard Willhelm, Autumn/Winter 2007-8 collections, displayed in the exhibition ‘Bernhard Willhelm and Jutta Kraus’ at the Groninger Museum, 2009-10. 

An exhibition taking the mick out of ‘high’ fashion. The oversized heads unify the designs and increase the comical aspect of the display. 

^^^ Comme des Garcons, Rei Kawakubo

The clothes in these photographs almost seem an afterthought to the headwear, which looks as though it has been made from rubbish or recycled objects, completely contrasting to the garments that the model is wearing. Again they are oversized and abstract. 

^^^ Alexander McQueen, Razor Shell Dress, Voss 2001, Spring/Summer 2001

^^^ Anna Plunkett & Luke Sales, Romance Was Born, ‘Dollies and Pearls, Oysters and Shells’ Collection, Spring/Summer 2009.

^^^ Stills from ‘Spirits - Fabulae Romanae, Lucy + Jorge Orta, filmed video performance, 2012, commissioned by ZegnArt. 

These are more architectural additions to the body rather than fashion. They are sculptural and have strong connections with the environment in which they are displayed. The cones that descend from the square headpiece to the floor represent the natural descend of water from the waterfall and also the unnatural manmade descend of the staircase. The sculptures that hang from the necks of the models are the colour of marble or stone, like that of ancient statues. The idea of art or fashion or sculpture existing in everyday environments and either contrasting or complimenting it is interesting. 

^^^Erwin Wurm 

Erwin Wurm has worked with several fashion designers and his approach is always comical and exploits the mundane aspects of fashion and everyday life in often very simple ways. 

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Boomtown Fair

At Boomtown Fair, a music festival near Winchester in England, they essentially create a city complete with different districts such as Old Town, Mayfair, Banghai, The Town Centre, Whistlers Green, Diss-order Alley and Barrio-Loco. These different districts draw on a range of different cultures from around the world to create a crazy mash up of costume and carnival. There are actors in character the entire weekend, working to create at atmosphere of pure escapism for the public. Whilst some of the costumes are easily recognisable characters, others are more ambiguous and have links with traditional carnival costume.

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The more I research into wearable sculpture I am becoming increasing disheartened as I struggle to find artists and designers I feel I can connect with and draw something from. Nick Cave’s work is cnstantly in my mind as I feel I can relate to his work the most out of all the artists I have looked at, yet as I have looked at his work so much I feel I need to move away from it and find other sources of inspiration. As The World of Wearable Art Show in New Zealand is so diverse, I could look at the designers in more detail rather than the show as a whole, so I can gain more insight into their ideas and methods. As I have been forever directing my work in the direction of festivals and thing that can be worn in a day to day environment, perhaps I will look at photos from festivals over the years to gain inspiration to. This will then also help me with my research proposal. 

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CLUBKID UNDERGROUND FASHION - Pinterest Search

The above images I was drawn to because they are typically more ‘fashionable’. One of the comments from the work I had set up in PS5 was that I should explore ‘club-kid’ fashion, a term that came out of the New York club scene in the late 80s early 90s, led by club promoter Michael Alig and TV presenter Jesse St. James. Club Kids stereotypically were flamboyant and wore outrageous clothing, and the scene was a place where you would be rewarded for experimentation within fashion. What I am drawn to is the combination of pattern and textures to create something that is quite abstract, and also relates to my thinking about ‘more is more’ - the more outrageous and excessive the better. 

I couldn’t find the source of these images but it is clear they have been made by the same designer. Reminiscent of the Bauhaus Ballet, the costumes completely obscure the wearer, fully restricting their movement too. The blocks of striped colour add to the illusionary feel as this colour scheme always reminds me of Op-Art. Because of this they all have an ‘other worldly’ and abstract feel to them. I wonder if they were designed as high fashion pieces or whether they are part of costumes for a performance. 

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Paul McCarthy

Painter, 1995, 49.58 minutes: 

This is what Tate describes painter as: 

‘Painter 1995 is a single-channel colour video with sound that is shown in a darkened room either as a projection or on a monitor. The video depicts the American artist Paul McCarthy performing as the eponymous painter inside a wooden set that is dressed as an artist’s studio, containing several large canvases as well as over-sized brushes and tubes of paint, along with an adjacent bedroom. Dressed in a blue smock, McCarthy wears a blonde wig and a number of prosthetics, including a bulbous nose, flapping ears and large rubber hands. During the fifty-minute video, he talks and acts in an exaggerated and comic fashion, sometimes behaving violently and at other times more childlike, as he struggles to paint. Midway through the work McCarthy sits at a table and repeatedly hits his rubber hand with a meat cleaver, eventually cutting off the index finger. Interspersed with the sequences in the studio and bedroom are four brief scenes featuring additional characters, all of whom also wear bulbous prosthetic noses. Two of these scenes are set in an office, where McCarthy visits a female gallery owner whom he claims owes him money, and the other two are based around a talk show, in which McCarthy appears alongside the host and an art collector couple. The video concludes with a scene in which a group of collectors line up to see McCarthy, with one sniffing the artist’s bare bottom as if assessing it as an artwork. Painter was shot on digital betacam and is displayed as standard definition video.’  (http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/mccarthy-painter-t12606)

The video comically addresses the key roles within the art world - the artist, the collector, the dealer; a satirical representation of what it is really like. The main focus of the video is on the artists, portraying him as a clown with giant hands and a giant nose. These prosthetics are key to making the video comical as they restrict the body’s ability to function normally, and makes the tasks that McCarthy undertakes in the video much more difficult. Prostethtics are add ons to the body, either enhancing it or denying it of a function. This idea could be something to play with in my practice. There are lot of references to to other painters within the performance, McCarthy shouts about Willem de Kooning, who was a pioneer of abstract expressionism and spoke about having a performative approach to painting. When McCarthy chops of his fake finger, it could be a reference to Vincent Van Gogh, who famously cut off his own ear. McCarthy’s work repeatedly is grotesque and often uses food to explore the insides of the body -’Mayonnaise was mayonnaise – but it could be sperm. Mustard could be shit. Chocolate could also be shit.’ (https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2011/nov/11/paul-mccarthy-artist)

Whilst a performance, it is set-based and not performed live infront of an audience. Live performances, such as Allan Kaprow’s happenings, are not easily repeated, only a handful of people knowing what actually happened. Watching a recording like this, means that the number of people who can view your work is increased, but at the same time I think it loses some of its magic and spontaneity. 

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Figured Fabric, Student Show, NUA, 01.02.18 - 07.02.18

I only briefly looked at this show in passing, but what struck me was the range of different textures that could be created on one type of fabric. Made by students from NUA on a variety of courses (I think), all of them were different and hung in ‘washing lines’ in the project space. The simplicity of having many of the same thing had a big impact - maybe this is the key to pattern and decoration as well as installation?

What I would like to see is some of the textures created on a larger scale, as this would have a dramatic impact. Beading like this though would take so long though!

^^ the backs of things are often more interesting than the front. 

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Looking back at past work

Foundation Diploma coursework final piece - Viva la Punk

The frame for this was based on the ‘backpack’ frame that many carnival costumes use to take the weight of the costumes and keep them upright. The costumes for carnivals need to be light so that the dancer can move around freely, which is why I used willow for the frame. It is easy manipulated and malleable and can be fastened easily with cable ties. I used willow from the tree in my garden and used white silk fabric that my mum had lying around to make the soft sculpture spikes. Based on the stereotypical Mohawk of punk culture, Viva la Punk was about celebrating punk culture and at the same time using rainbow colours to make the whole thing seem more approachable. Looking back, I’m not sure if I managed this, as the oversized spikes that cover my body are actually quite unapproachable. For the show ‘We haven’t Slept For Days’, I wanted to perform and dance around the church space, but due to health and safety risks (I couldn’t see anything when wearing it), it was displayed on a mannequin. This work was the first piece of wearable art I had made and my vision for it was to be fun and comical. Whilst I didn’t make this on my degree this work is increasingly becoming more relevant to my current practice, and it is a good reminder to keep things light-hearted and evoke a sense of playfulness within my work.

Foundation diploma mini project based around peoples obscure fears:

When looking through my old sketchbooks I found this project from foundation. My main focus was exploring how to respond to my friends irrational fear of fish swimming up her vagina, and I used a lot of different kinds of tape to cast my legs. I enjoy working with tape because of its immediacy; i enjoy any material that has this quality, and I would definitely like to work with tape again. This page in my book stood out to me because of the puppet-like legs. It gave me ideas to create multiple casts of limbs and fashion a costume out of them with the wearer wearing all black, so only the limbs are visible. Or perhaps a leg scarf?