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Textiles Collage

In textiles we have to move on from experimenting with materials and still and move it more into our own pathway. At first i was unsure how i could go about incorporating 3D with my stitch research and also relate to a Rakes Progress but it reminded me of Yinka Shonibares work that ive looked at previously in 3d lessons.

His work represents Fragonards The Swing which is about women in the 1700th period but more to do with courtesans of the time, the first look at the image it looks light hearted and happy with a woman on a swing smiling, the sun is shining and the colours used are soft and romantic. Where as when you look closer you you see a man laid on the ground looking up her dress as she kicks it out as though she wants him to look. The man pushing her is said to be her elderly husband but is hidden in the shadows and cannot see the man laying infront of her. She is wearing a Bergere hat also  known as a sheperdess which relates to being virtuous and close to nature, which is ironic as she is corrupted and gives into temptations.

 



  Yinkas work refereneces the fabrics they use and the history they are meant to have. He shows the relationship between Africa and Europe with their political and economic history. He buys all his fabrics from markets in London that do cheap immitations of African fabrics and patterns. He comments that he likes the way they have a crossbred culture of their own and that its an artificial construct. Ilike his mix of cultures using fabrics, patterns, styles and eras, it makes a strong constrast and shows the links between cultures.

 

 

 



For my piece i decided to create designs for a set design/ installation to relate more towards my field of fine art. I wanted to relate mine more towards A Harlotts progress as i felt i could make it more modern but still have hints of 1700th style. After looking at Yinkas use of fabrics and patterns i wanted to use a traditional style of 1700th fabric/ pattern of floral and nature prints such as birds. Also pale romantic colours like pale green, pink and blue, skin like colours to relate to skin of the courtesans as they wear revealing clothing. I also wanted to look into class, how working class/ middle class will spend money on over the top tacky items for their house or clothing to look higher class and more rich, tryingto imatate the higher class to appear more cultured. From this i also want to include prints from all over the world as being seen with items from other countries meant you had the money to import them so it also showed your wealth.

 

After deciding on my materials and patterns i want to contrast this with modern and bold shapes in the room and almost make it abstract so that at first the colours distract you to think its an old fashioned room but to then focus on the shapes and see the contrasting edges. I think i got a good idea from making my collage as i was unsure at first wear i wanted to go, i think my collage stills looks a little confused like its a mood board for interior design but i want to make a further collage that has a more refined design concept and over all has a stronger design to make it more modern and abstract.

A Rakes Progress Group Painting

 The first painting we made didnt go very well, no one had a clear idea of what we were doing so everyone just did their own thing and had their own space so over all it looked mismatched and like a group of pieces of work so we started again and planned together how we were going to do it.

The dark background we made on the first worked well but we thought it needed to be darker to allow it to have a stronger contrast with the foreground. This time we used material instead of paper, this allowed us to use water on the charcoal which then it spread further and look messier. We used a mixture of charcoal, paint and ink to make different layers and sizes of text. We used small amounts of colour on the background that would stand out such as yellow inks and red paint, we also used glitter spreading it over certain words to highlight them but also create humour putting gold sparkley glitter over words like whore and sex. 

To make the figures we drew around eachother copying them from certain characters in the painting, i think the distorted and weird shapes you get from drawing around people works well as it exaggerates and changes the body shape and creates an anonymity for the identity of the person.

Our last problem was finding a place to hang the painting that was large enough. The only wall that would fit most of it we would of had to cut a part off, instead we folded the piece out away from the wall. Hanging it up gives a better over all view of the piece and i think it works well except there isnt anything to fully pull the piece together. I dont like how all the characters seem to be floating and theres no sense of gravity to the painting to weigh it down.

Casting using Modroc



I was really excited to be doing more casting as i want to learn the basic skills and techniques to then start trying different things and make it my own. Some of my favourite artists use different forms of cast or just use plaster to get a raw effect, such as Folkert De Jong who replicates the human body without casting but sculpts foam and materials into people then uses materials such as plaster to make a raw and messy effect. Also David Altmejds 'The Healers' takes casts of different body parts that are rough and not precise casts they are left messy and parts are broken, all of the different casts are interconnected within the scene in explicit poses and some how make one creature that looks quite disturbing after looking at the bright colours of the casts. I first saw his work on a trip to London when we visited the Saatchi Gallery, I refernced his work a lot last year in my course after briefly trying casting by pouring plaster onto a mannequin head.

http://www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/artists/david_altmejd.htm?section_name=shape_of_things

 

 

We started with casting the face to get use to casting from another person rather than from ourselves. First i wrapped cling film around the top of Chloes head making sure i didnt fasten it at the back of her head incase she felt clostrophobic and needed to take it off. Then i put strips down the side of the face and over the top of the nose leaving her space to breath through her nose. Then last i cling filmed over her mouth, i put a few layers all over to make it stronger and keep its shape a bit better.

 

Next i cut strips of modroc and criss crossed them over her face so it would be strong and cover all the areas. I didnt cast all the way around her head just to half way so the cast can be removed.

The modroc dries quite quickly so as it was drying i made sure i got as much detail as possible and pressed the cast onto the face to fit it properly. After that we could take the cast off to let the rest of it dry. I felt it worked well for my first attempt! I like that the features of the face are kept quite vague but can also distort the persons identity from the cling film or too many layers of modroc in areas. Its also strange to see detail of someones face infront of them and allows you to look at yourself in a different way.

I made a cast from my own body which was difficult as i couldnt get very good detail or a true shape as the modroc wouldnt fit to my hand properly. As it was drying i was trying to squeeze it around my hands and i think it made my wrist look more realistic rather than being the same width as my arm. I put the cast a bit too far around parts of my arm and fingers but that was only to get a better shape and to hold on better but it did make it hard to take off.