Sampling Unit

Mapping and Measuring

I took 1901 steps to reach the science and industry museum to receive feedback on my Origins unit. I chose to measure my journey with steps and use my data to create a piece that reflects my repetitive movements. 

                                          

All my 1901 steps are represented within this piece. It led me to think about other repetitive motions we do in our day to day lives, how many time we blink or breathe, how many times in a day, in a week, month, year? 

Evaluation

From my initial starting point of experimenting with mark making, collage and illustrative figures, my body of work has progressed with an apparent vision and concept. Generating a meaning and purpose in my work has become a defining ability in this project, as I have attempted to create a depth by using the silhouette of people as a way of representing coexistence. Therefore my project has revolved around inhabiting these figures in different environments, referring to the home and our interchanging landscape.

Continuously reviewing my ideas allowed me to decide what certain aspects of my work reflected the story I was trying to tell. Selecting the key elements, such as the miniature people, permitted me to go forward and experiment with various concepts that link with my theme. Combining imagery with welsh poetry added a personal sense to the project, making my very own connection between home and being able to coexist in new surroundings. 

I believe that this digital design made on photoshop represents the links between poetry, imagery and my concept in a creative way.

Looking into colour schemes and muted tones enabled me to represent my own colour palette with more accuracy and precision. This kind of research was helpful to understand which colours work best in order to create a design that relates to the overall mood and atmosphere of my work. The most beneficial aspect of this project has been learning how to use colour appropriately. Before doing this project I lacked confidence when working with colour, however I am now equipped with a broader understanding that will help me in future work.

Producing thumbnails of print collection sketch plans in my sketchbook benefited me immensely when it came to designing prints in the print room and with creating hand drawn designs. Experimenting with these compositions beforehand allowed me to work freely with a clear perception of what I wanted to achieve in mind. An example of my sketchbook work, seen below, was a key component in helping me to move my project forward, incorporating important print design understanding with fresh developing ideas.

            I believe that my weakest work in this project is my screen print designs. This is the aspect that I struggled with the most as my technical skills lack precision and tidiness. In order to improve on these required skills I used my independent time wisely by booking into the print room on Wednesdays, and going through the different printing techniques to strengthen my abilities and gain confidence, thus producing samples to be kept in my technical file. I found that hand painted monoprints was better suited to my style of working, the example below proves this statement as I was able to expand on my choice of motifs, and draw in a more painterly and expressive manner.

            Researching artists and designers assisted my practice as it helped me to engage in different print compositions, colour palettes and pattern ideas. Textile print artists such as Joanna Kinnersly-Taylor, Nigel Henderson and Eduardo Paolozzi inspired me to design more alternative print work, leaning towards conceptual and illustrative designs. Realising where my work could fit in terms of branding became visible towards the end of the project, gift ware being the more obvious option as my work could be imagined in products such as wrapping paper or notebook designs as it lends itself to a wide range of audience and age group.

Monoprinting

Hand drawn onto silk screen with water down dye, this technique enabled me to move away from my other print screen and experiment with new motifs and a painterly approach. These examples are printed onto cotton that I had previously tie dyed.

Hand drawn designs

Examples of hand drawn designs made by experimenting with different compositions and drawing skills that can't be produced digitally. Working with fine-liner to achieve a very detailed design. To improves these designs I am going to add hints of colour from my colour palette to make them stand out and be more vibrant.

Compositions

Using thumbnails of print collection sketch plan to help with designing hand drawn designs and when working in the print room. These various compositions have been very beneficial as I now have a better idea of how I should layout my motifs beforehand. 

Hammer Prints Textiles

Founded by Nigel Henderson and Eduardo Paolozzi in 1954, Hammer Prints designed fabrics, wallpaper and ceramics. Their range of fabric designs stood out to me because of their originality, illustrative forms and printing techniques. The overall feel of their designs creates a sense of curiosity, they draw you in to have a closer look.

Lucienne Day

A pioneer in textile design, Lucienne Day's work has inspired me in terms of creating new motifs and experimenting with repeating different kinds of pattern. Most importantly I like how she worked with colour so delicately and so ahead of her time.

Joanna Kinnersly-Taylor

 

'Mapping The Shape of Things,Printed,stitched and collaged paper'

             

'The Shape of Things

Screen-printed Irish Linen'

"There is a theme of memory and the domestic landscape running through much of my work, where imagery takes on a new form through abstraction, repetition and a change in scale."

Print artist and designer who has inspired me in terms of her use of colour, imagery and conceptual approach. I was captured by the way she incorporates an apparent theme in her work.

"Creating an atmosphere is important and the multiple layers don't just give a visual depth, but also try to give a certain 'presence' as well as symbolising the transciene and complexities of life, a constantly shifting landscape."

Source:http://www.textileartist.org/an-interview-with-joanna-kinnersly-taylor-part-2/

Fabric samples

Dip dyeing

Silk dip dye sample, made bye mixing dyestuff, matexil leveling agent, acetic acid and water. Dipping half of the fabric into one dye bath, taking it out quickly in order to gain a lighter more faded colour. Then rinse material in hot, warm then cold water. Repeating the same process on the other side of fabric. Finish by spinning and drying.

Direct printing

Using pigment colour and emulsion binder to create ink that prints on all fibres, the sample above is printed on calico as a test piece to check if the colour is accurate.

Using the same process, however printing on a light habotai silk with a lighter colour.

Repeating motif onto calico, testing different colours and patterns.

Experimenting with different backgrounds, repeating and layering motifs onto cotton.

Acid dyes

This particular method works only on silk, wool and nylon. The sample above is printed on noil silk. This method is slightly more time consuming as the material needs to be steamed for 35-40 minutes, rinsed in cold water and then washed in warm water with detergent.

Digital print

A photoshop design that has been digitally printed onto fabric. A test piece to show how the colours work on a certain type of fabric.

Sketchbook development- Working with my colour palette and incorporating my design motifs within a different environment, using the landscape as a background and as a representation of 'home'. I have also included welsh poetry that relates to my subject matter of people coexisting with the world around them.

Printing

One of the key components of the print textile world is screen printing. With it comes learning about dye recipes, which fibres work with which dyes and the different printing techniques. 

Printing on cotton- The first step when printing on fabrics is ironing the pieces to the table in order for them to stick, therefore when printing onto the fabric it will not move and ruin the design.     

Printing on silk- When printing on silk a backing cloth must be ironed down first and then the piece of fabric can be ironed on top of it. The next step is to pin the silk to the backing cloth by pulling each side in order for it to be tight and secure in place.

Using masking tape to choose a specific motif on the screen to print. This technique stops any other motif printing onto the fabric.

Apply the ink to the selected part of the screen, use a squeegee to spread the ink evenly up and down 2-3 times, applying enough pressure whilst doing so.

Exhibitions:

Indifferent Matter

Henry Moore Institute, Leeds.

My first visit to an exhibition as a first year undergraduate student was at the Henry Moore Institute in Leeds; 'Indifferent Matter: From Object to Sculpture', which consists of everyday objects "being coerced into becoming sculpture". Work by Felix Gonzalez-Torres and Hans Haacke was exhibited. 

An artist who inspires

Anselm Kiefer.

Kiefer's powerful ability to create imagery and meaning within his work inspired me to incorporate a purpose to my designs, to give my ideas a certain structure and a symbolic nature. Therefore by using figurative people I am able to portray different aspects of life; our home, our upbringing and the people who surround us. 

Sketchbook development-

Extracts from my sketchbook and how I'm developing my ideas. I took inspiration from mini-shots of models during London fashion week that I found in the free newspaper 'Crack'. This evolved into repeating miniature figures which led to my motif design for screen printing.

My six selected pieces of work-

This drawing was made in one hours time, creating a different drawing each five minutes of a found object. It's a large scale drawing, made on a piece of A2 paper with ink and a pallet knife. I chose to work with these tools and within this size because it gave me the freedom to draw the object with some movement and to create free flowing lines. If done again, I would use a wider variation of line thickness.

This drawing refers to the 'make a drawing out of 50 separate pieces of paper' chance card. The pieces are made from a sheet of paper I picked up for free in Piccadilly records on my travels around the city. I particularly like how the text and images combine to make a dynamic structure. Next time I would think more about cutting the pieces into shapes that interact better together.

'Make a drawing using 5 different pencils'- A simple approach perhaps however I wanted the drawing to come across as clean, aligned and fitting to the purpose of the brief. Perhaps if done again I would stretch the drawing across the whole page, although I think it creates more of a statement this way.

The drawing above refers to the chance card;'Make a drawing on a found or ready made object'. I chose a page of newspaper with little writing in order for the drawing to make more of an impact. The rectangles are made using a strip of masking tape and a variation of charcoals to create a mysterious, quite hazy piece that fits to its background. The main point of improvement would be to give it a tidier finish.

'Make a drawing which fills 5%, 25% or 85% of your paper', in this instance I chose to fill 25% of my paper with drawings of a found object, again using different charcoals on to tracing paper. I rather like the fact that its a design that could be transferred into a repeated pattern onto wallpaper, fabric, furniture etc. A point of criticism would be not to use such monotone colors, and to next time inject brighter colors.

 This drawing refers to the 'make a light drawing on a dark background' chance card. It's made by cutting strips of masking tape into thin pieces and use white ink to denote the negative space around them. I enjoyed this process and next time would like to stretch the idea by creating a larger scale piece.