Category: AAD010

24
Oct
2020

TADF- Denim Challenge

categories: AAD010

Denim Challenge-

Before completing the denim challenge I wanted to research artists that inspired me, such artists came to be Vivienne Westwood and Jennifer Davies. Westwood’s free and punk inspired designs are something that I really enjoyed and much like Davies she uses a lot of layered fabrics to create a handmade and rough look to her designs. I was heavily inspired by a few of Davies’ pieces particularly the ones where masses of denim were overlapped quite chaotically. I found something in that very fascinating and it inspired this idea primarily. I completed a couple of digital drawings as a rough guide for the jacket (at this point I knew that a jacket was something that I wanted to tackle). I added fishnets and chains to the design as I wanted a design that would match my own personal taste in clothing and also something that I knew would break up the layers of denim. I started by taking the dimensions of a pre-existing jacket and cut the jacket up until only the seems were left, this was I could accurately reconstruct the jacket into the patchwork/ layered idea that I was originally going for. Sewing is something that I don’t take much pride in nor did I trust my abilities enough in making the jacket stay together so I opted for safety pins instead.

As you can see I achieved a super layered and messy look with the different types of denim and also used some zippers and braces from overalls and jeans. The sleeve of the jacket is my favorite part as it is super theatrical and dramatic. I achieved this with long strips of fabric that overlapped in order to create a thick veil of overhang. The finishing details were the embroidered “Hate” on the shoulder and the leather on the other shoulder. I was able to dye some of the fabric in water and acrylic paint and some bleach, I also did this for some areas of the fishnets.

These are some close up images of the jacket for a better look of the layered look I was trying to achieve.

Initial Sketches and Planning-

Its very clear to see that I stuck to my initial sketches quite closely as I was a huge fan of how these looked. I had a lot of ideas in my head and these sketches for me were the fastest way for me to be able to document my ideas into a visible form. I think that the jacket turned out even better than my sketches, I am very pleased that I was able to make these ideas a reality even with my limited knowledge and capabilities with sewing and working with textiles.

24
Oct
2020

TADF- Moschino Sketches

categories: AAD010

Moschino Spring Summer 2021

These are some of my favorite sketches form the Moschino task. I tried to stick to the outfits that matched my colour palette, these are also some designs that I was particularly drawn to, mostly due to the shapes and colours used. I tried to emulate the doll like poses and lifelessness of the bodies in the drawings while focusing on the clothing over the anatomical structures. However I also recognised how the clothing fit onto the forms and how they were able to flow onto the limbs in a free or tight manner, this is something that I thought would have been important to the designer when making these designs therefore something I tried to replicate with these sketches.

I simply paused the video when I saw something that caught my attention and took a couple of minutes to draw it out and add a little pen or coloured pencils to add some more dimension and give an ideas as to what the actual designs looked like. I think I was able to capture some sense of fluidity with the fabrics and also a sense of action or movement despite the designs not being displayed on an actual model. When drawing I kept it as simple as possible in terms of the anatomy and focused more of my time in replicating the designs and the way they shape the body in a new way.

24
Oct
2020

TADF- Weaving Paper and Sewing

categories: AAD010

Weaving-

Firstly I tried out some paper weaving with different techniques (whilst keeping my colour palette in mind). I found that the different ways I was weaving created a different look die to the tightness of the weave. I really liked the appearance of the green toned paper weave I completed as it is quite perfect to me, this one took me quite a while to complete as the paper strips were quite hard to work with. I wanted to try and do a 3d version of the weaving so I wrapped some woven paper over a bowel to get it into a curved shape then gently slid the bowl out from it. I quite like how the woven strips are so large it looks quite interesting in my opinion.

After weaving paper I wanted to try and weave some material. I started with some wool and a piece of card behind it to show off the weave pattern. I think that this looks well, however it wasn’t as tight as I would have liked it to be, this was even more difficult to work with than the paper though, if I were to do it again I would defiantly use two different colours of wool as to keep it looking less confused when weaving. The last two that I did are multi media weavings consisting of denim strips, shoe laces and wool. I used two sticks and wrapped vertical strips of wool along it to be the base for my weaving. In my opinion these are the mist effective looking out of all the weaving and due to the different directions and imperfect manner in which I wove them together they have become something interesting to look at.

Sewing-

To work on some of my sewing skills before tacking the denim challenge I took some scraps of denim and some wool and thread and began to teach myself how to sew. I tried some basic running stitches, blanket stitching, embroidery, rice stitches and some crosses. I surprised myself and was able to do a lot more than I thought I would have been capable of doing. I adore how the “hate” embroidery turned out I think I kept the lines really accurate and the wool worked really well in making the letting stand out a lot and have a 3d effect. The hate patch is also quite large (about 30cm) in length and I will definitely be pinning it to some of my denim jackets and jeans. I tried to keep within my colour scheme so I chose some simple blue tones to tie in with the denim.

24
Oct
2020

Product- Paper Patterns

categories: AAD010

Paper Patters-

I didn’t go into this challenge with a plan but I wanted it to be as free and experimental as possible. The first cuts I made were mostly made up of angular and triangle based shapes, these I had at angles and set on top of each other to create an overlapped and unique shape. the first cuts I made I tried to take at least 8 different pictures for each cut or series of cuts. this way I could document how much the shapes changed through both the cutting process and and also with the ways in which I set the paper out on the page. As I got further along with the process I got more confident and free with the cuts that I was making and this helped a lot with the pattern. I began to break the shapes down from more complex shapes back into the simple triangular shapes from the beginning as I thought that these were the most effective. In the process I also used squares and rectangular shapes but the felt too boring to me and didn’t have as much of a flow as what the triangles did, this is why i chose to break them down into triangles also until I got the the last pattern being made up of diverse sized and shaped triangles. I thought that they would look good if they were somewhat cascading down the page in clusters slowly getting smaller, I really enjoy the pattern that I was left with in the end.

24
Oct
2020

TADF- Designer Research

categories: AAD010

Vivienne Westwood- Fashion Designer

With the hippy and free love movements being prevalent without the 1960s in London, and the fashion being heavily influenced by said movement it would be fair to assume that most designers were also influenced by this. However Westwood’s main influence was the greaser leather heavy fashions of the 50’s and the punk anti-fascist movements of the 70’s. She was greatly inspired by the anti capitalist and rebel attitude of the Sex Pistols, especially after the “God save the Queen” EP was censored by the BBC. This is a turning point in her fashion when she incorporated the main basis of the punk aesthetic such as leather, typography, denim and plaid fabrics. Her provoking fashion often included anti- Nazi and Skinhead type and and anti patriarchy messages. These messages were not well received by the mainstream of London yet there was a charm to her rebellious attitude towards the fashion world.

she is still designing yet she has diversified to a more mainstream empire. She dropped the rebellious fashions after the punk movement lost its momentum yet she is still a large part of the history of rebellion in London. I find her fashions to be beautiful in a harsh and rugged type of way. I have been a fan of both the anti fascist fashions along with the extreme opposites such as skinhead for a very long time so her fashion presence in this period has always caught my attention more so than any other. When planning my denim challenge I knew that I would want to use her as a large influence on my own attempts to create some fashion of my own.

Jennifer Davies- Textile Artist

Davies is particularly interested in working with paper and other types of textiles, all of which she makes herself. Her main influences are naturality and the world of nature, particularly tree barks, the veins of plants and leaves and the chaotic overlap of nature that is often overlooked or missed. She particularly enjoys making her own paper out of pulp and playing around with diverse thicknesses and textures in order to create a realistic recreation of texture. when I saw her work I was fascinated by the overlap of fabric and the denim heavy look. This greatly inspired me for the denim challenge as I was thinking about using this sort of patchwork and asymmetric look for a jacket or some sort of garment. I love the idea of making my own garment with this sort of style with the different types of denim and contrasting colours. The webbing look that she achieves with dissolving denim is supposed to mimic spider webs, however it reminds me of torn up tights or fishnet stocking, this is something else that I considered for my denim challenge as I thought it would tie in with the works of both Davies and Westwood.

Shanan Campanaro- Textile Designer

Eskayel is a New York based design studio that interlocks fine art and sustainable methods of creating unique and ling lasting textiles. The patterns come from a painting process initially, completed by the founder of the company Campanaro. She likes to create textiles with lasting beauty and sustainability in mind, she also enjoys evoking a sense of preservation of nature’s wonders within her somewhat abstract designs. It is easy to see that she is passionate about the theme of her work as she also conducts her process in an eco-friendly manner with natural pigments, inks and dyes for both her initial sketches and the textiles themselves. Her brand of homeware, linens, wallpapers and other home accessories have been produced over and over due to the quality and unique approach to her designs.

Eskayel is a designer that inspires me due to the sheer devotion to the eco-friendly approach to her business that had made her stand out from the rest. Her devotion to wildlife not only stays within the realm of creating her works but she also donates much of her earnings to organisations and reserves who believe in the preservation of wildlife also. Her sheer commitment to her cause is what I really enjoy about her work and how each piece is created from something that she finds beautiful and unique. Her success is no surprise to me due to her passion that is poured into every piece.

22
Oct
2020

Ceramics- (Research and Building)

categories: AAD010

Brendan Tang- Post-Modern Ceramic Artist

Tang’s non-functional vessel forms are mostly inspired by other contemporary and post modern ceramics, he enjoys the paradox between classical and modern blue and white ceramic wear and that of mecha-forms often utilised in modern cartoon and movies. His bright and colourful colour palette combats that of the modernism of the blue and white designs. The artist enjoys adding wiring, cogs and other mechanical parts that would suggest a functionality despite its non-functioning state, he states that this is probably more amusing to those interested in his field of ceramics that put art before that of practicality.

Tang states that he draws “inspiration from such diverse realms as contemporary pop culture (e.g., plastic toys and Japanese comics), art history (e.g., in the form of Chinese Ming dynasty vessels and 18th century French rococo), and historical and contemporary practices in self-portraiture.” These influences are prominent throughout his work and in many ways it is what attracts me to his works. I enjoy his outlook of art over functionality and the great opposition and rejection to works deemed traditional or modernism.

Curran Wedner- Contemporary Ceramic Artist

Wedner’s works are heavily focused on fetal and baby-like anatomical structures, he combines this with “bog” like influences which creates an unsettling paradox between the soft innocence of childlike faces and black ooze protruding from pottery. He works primarily in clay as “clay has always been a friendly medium to me since I have worked with it my whole life”. The process begins with throwing and trimming on a wheel, he then makes castings and applies them to the leather-hard clay before bisque firing the work. Each sculpture is then glazed and fired a second time. “From start to finish this process takes weeks,” he makes each piece individual and creates a new disturbing combination of opposing anatomical structures for each pot.

Wedner enjoys the cycle of life being the main storyteller and or theme of his works, however he draws much influence from the notorious bog bodies in Europe and Bell-Becker culture. I am really drawn to the disturbing qualities of his work, I have seen few artists influenced by the bog bodies which is something that I have done much research on and in turn became quite fascinated by the haunting stories. His works compelling paradox between youthful beauty and the horrifying aspects of the black oozing glazes and witch-like fingers he often includes is diverse and stands out from that of the other ceramic artists that I have looked at.

My Own Clay Building-

I made a simple design from the sketches of one of the assembly buildings in Belfast. I wrapped the air drying clay around the drawing for each side and made a simplistic infill focusing on the basic shapes rather than any specific details. Once the clay began to harden I molded them to the curved shape that I desired and made sure they fit together. I added a small amount of hot glue to the edges for some structural integrity as I am unfamiliar with the clay that I was using. This way I was able to confidently keep the structure together long enough for it to dry completely. Working with the clay was difficult for me as it is a media that I have never favored but I tried to not let it consume too much time or effort and just let the clay harden in the simplistic shape that i was hoping for. The clay hardened quite well although i think id need to make sure that it doesn’t dry out too fast for the next time as I think that this was the cause of the small cracks on the surface of the clay.

13
Oct
2020

TADF- Mood Board and Outfit Pictures

categories: AAD010

Mood Board-

For my mood board I didn’t limit it to anything specific, more so I just wanted it to be images that I find personally fascinated in colour, shape and subject. The colours I selected were the primary colours and green. Even though these aren’t typically my favorite colours I think that these colours are well suited and something that I wear the most of. To incorporate my own personal interests I added some pictures if myself, this is also good for reference as it is also showing some of the outfits I like to wear and how this mood board is a clear reflection of my own personal styles and tastes.

When making it I wanted to make it super layered and overlapped so I gathered as many images as possible and brought them together in an editing application to mess around with the layout and lighting/ colour and contrast of the images. I think that the colours and images I selected work very well together and are rather pleasing for me to look at. This mood board will be great to look back on if I need some inspiration or guidance.

Pictures of Clothing-

When taking pictures of my clothes I didn’t just want to take pictures of their pattern or sitting at an angle or folded. I wanted to personify my clothing without it actually being worn and have it tell some kind of story or portray and emotion. For some of the pictures I used clever angles in order to create the illusion of of it being empty yet worn at the same time, although I also used photoshop to combine images of me wearing an article with an image of the clothing suspended in a way that makes it strange or comical to look at. I think that I was able to achieve a wide range of emotions throughout the clothing and really make it look personified.

My favorite pictures are the ones where I propped the clothing into chairs to make it look as if the clothes are animated and the photoshopped illusions I was able to create. When selecting the clothing I made sure to think about colour, pattern and size. This would allow me to use my colour palette in an interesting way and add some pattern to what could have been pain clothing articles.

Drawings from the images-

I used a drawing application to create these. I was mainly focusing on colour and pattern and trying to replicate these things with a range of different brushes within the drawing application. I think that these turned out really well and give a sense of texture and pattern. I was also careful to select articles of clothing that matched the colours within the mood board that I created (focusing on primary colour and green). I am a huge fan of plaid patterns and the way that they all look diverse which is why I incorporated the two different pieces. The images are mostly close up so I could highlight a smaller section of the article rather than just drawing pieces of clothing.

12
Oct
2020

Product- Artist research/ paper sculpts and lighting

categories: AAD010

Marie-Anne Thieffry- Cardboard Anatomy

Marie-Anne Thieffry repurposes cardboard boxed and other biproducts of mass consumerism in an attempt to rework waste into a beautiful recycled sculpt, she allows for cardboard to become the integral and primary focus of her luminating work. By repurposing and reworking the packaging, she evolves what was a simple container and reworks it into a new perspective and puts life back into the packaging. She Creates the ultimate paradox between the fluidity and soft angles of the female anatomy with the rigid and indifferent feeling evoked from conventional cardboard packaging. By incorporating the natural holes and shapes made with the cardboard she is complimenting the naturality of the form and also creating a sensual and clear representation of femininity.

Thieffry is concerned with environmental issues and her choice to use corrugated cardboard as the main foundation for her work has allowed her to repurpose the card into a new life cycle. She believes that repurposing these recycled products is what she can do to help the environment as an artist. I think that the use of the cardboard in her work mimics lace or floral patters often associated with feminine sexuality, this heavily contrasts the harsh and often boring appearance of brown rigid card.

I took her ideas and influences for her art and into account when making a piece of art inspired by the work that she produces. I used recycled card and soaked it in a glue and water mixture to try and make the card as malleable as possible. I applied tin strips of this to a mold I made from tinfoil and cling film in the shape of my bust. I carefully used my own anatomy to make the mold as I thought that it would make the piece for personal and have a sense of self. I added a small amount of pigment to the glue mixture to remove the stark white of the paper and create a much more visually interesting piece.

Nahoko Kojima- Large Scale Paper Sculptures

Kojima is heavily inspired by her perception of nature and her childhood curiosities of shadows and the way animals moved and flowers grew. Her large scale works allow for a realistic cast of shadow when light is applied which is assisted by the strategic cutouts applied to the paper that she uses. Her work develops while in the process of completion and she is never sure what the turnout will be from the designing process to the completed piece of art. She uses a range of cutting and folding techniques to create her work and tries to recreate the shapes of the animals that she is trying to create. She states that her work focuses on a new perspective of nature and the beauty of her adventures of a new culture when she moved from Tokyo to London and discovered not only a new viewing of nature but the beauties of a new culture.

I love how dynamic her work is and the fluidity of the shapes which creates a sense of sheer naturality and preservation of natural forms. The thought behind the shadows and harsh light makes the pieces she creates stand apart from that of other sculptures, the fact that she also used paper in all of her sculptures on such a large scale makes her works special. I think seeing this work in a gallery would be utterly breathtaking and completely moving due to the encapsulation of her perspective of nature.

Masayo Fukuda- Kirie Paper Art

Fukuda is a master of the traditional art of Kirie or Japanese paper cutting. She works on single sheets of A2 paper to create large intricate works of marine life, depicting movement and shadow. She enthralls her viewers with the illusion that her work has many layers of paper or is drawn with a ballpoint pen but in fact she hand cuts all her pieces and gives them as much realistic detailing as possible. She uses the negative space to create most of her detail and shadows. Her highlight piece was the delicate lace like octopus that she created in 2018 which features a mass amount of small details in a single sheet of A2 paper. At first glance her work may appear to be made from intricate lace or doilies which gives her work a unique and passion filled appearance.

I really admire how much time and effort she puts into her works as i have tried working with a blade and paper and getting the details small an sharp is difficult and takes a lot longer than that of drawing fine details with a pen. The micro-detail aspect of her work is what gives it its visually dynamic and alluring appearance that I was ultimately drawn to.

My Own Paper crafts-

Keeping the artists in mind I created a few dynamic paper pieces myself. I started off simply to see what ways I was able to bend the paper and bring it together. This gradually led to a much larger sculpture being about a meter in length. I really liked this piece, as simple as it was to make I think that its very interesting to look at. The piece reminds me of Japanese umbrellas and brings me a lot of interest and happiness to look at, despite it being as simple as folded paper held together with tape. I displayed the process of making this piece with the start to end process of folding.

I saw the work of Marie-Anne Thieffry and decided to make my own bust from sodden paper, water and glue. I made a mold of my own torso with some tinfoil and was able to create an accurate female anatomy piece from this process of layering paper strips over the foil. I have a huge love for drawing anatomical structures and the artist’s work inspired me so much that I wanted to make something similar to her paper sculptures. I think that the process I used for this turned out really well and is my favorite paper sculpture I have made to date. I decided to keep the paper plain as I thought that painting it might take away from the paper look that I wanted to show.

Paper Lighting Project-

This is my paper sculpture with some coloured lighting on it. I think that by playing around with the lighting that the sculpt was exposed to it changed to appearance and mood of the piece.

For the paper lighting project I wanted to make a shade that would wrap around a lightbulb and encapsulate the light within the small space. I made a paper structure to hold the shredded sugar paper and used some clear tape with large spaces to make some breaks in the paper for the light to shine though. I think that this was very effective and the light cover fir the bulb perfectly. I really like the layers of different coloured paper, it reminds me of a piñata or some other sort of festive décor.