FINAL PIECE

Following the experiemation that I conducted, I put together my final piece. My method was using, specified wood glue, acrylic paint (white and flourescent red), allumium tape, thread (white and metallic silver) and white 2.5" inch width elastic. 

I am very happy with the outcome as I feel it successfully portrays my childhood memory of being messy and creative on building sites. As a test for evaluation purposes, I asked a few peers to comment on what they thought the piece resembled. 

Phoebe: "I see it as the remains of a skip after a building job at an artists studio."

Niove: "I love how the inspiration from Frank Stella's piece 'Had Gayda:Back Cover' has transformed and merged with the childhood memory concept" 

I am very happy with these comments because that's exactly what I was aiming for. To achieve my aim for this project is very pleasing.

To possibly improve this piece, I would love to channel it into something more commercially viable. This would show my understanding of working in industry. It would possibly be better in terms of employability as well. It would show a fashion house that I can think conceptually, yet still channel the customers vision of the brand into sellable pieces. 

The piece could still possibly be used as a show piece of for advertisement purposes to really set a brand apart from others, remain eye catching and intriguing.

SAMPLE COLLAGING

With the samples that I made I thought it would be a good idea to see what the would be like if the were life size. Considering that I wanted to make a large sulpture accessory, this was a very successful process to carry out. 

One of the disappointing factors about this activity was the fact that I wouldnt realistically be able to make life size versions of this sample. Previously I have thought of using wood as the main medium for the accessory, however after this activity, it has proved that the majority of the piece wil have to be made of wood to give it the structure and stability of the illustrations that I have created. 

Now that I have made this realisation, I can plan to make the final accessory within a suitable time frame to allow materials to form bonds *ie: to let the wood glue dry properly to make a good quality accessory that will with stand wear as it would have to in industry. 

Obviously an accessory of this conceptual nature wouldn't be commercially viable for sale. So now I have made the aim of showcasing it as if it were a show piece to compliment a collection. 

WOOD DRAPING

After developing the sampling in my sketchbook, I wanted try out some formations with actual wood.  This was my form of draping in a sense. 

What I found challenging about this task was the fact that it's harder to play an manipulate wood as a material due to its properties. What I did find though was that there are some cool affects that you can achieve in terms of surface manipulation. For example, making groves in the wood to then snap it off to create a jagged edge and sintering effect (obviously not good for the hands). I really admired the way that this made the otherwise clean cut wood look. It reflected the tone of mess and destruction that can bee seen in my samples. 

I tried loads of different formations as I would with actual draping. I found this one (the image above) to be the most successful. Everything is on a diagonal which for some reason appeals to me. I researched into why this may be and apparently its because diagonal lines excite the brain. This explains why as a child, I was so drawn to making these sort of messes. 

Now I had achieved a design that I was happy with, I had to secure it and look to surface design. Again I looked to my samples. There were a lot of distressed tapes, threads and paints used throughout. This is what I want to portray on my final piece. So I turned to my book to do some experimentation. 

I used the same elements used on my samples but on a flat surface as this is more similar to the wood. This will hopefully give me a more realistic idea of what it will be like on the final piece.

SAMPLING FUN

As a result of research, I conducted some sampling. This process was actually extremely fun! It took me back to my childhood. The process felt limitless! However, it wasn't at first. This was because I initially had issues with getting started and getting into to the right mind frame of a child creating. to overcome this issue, I just started making a mess . I found this to be an effective method of channelling momentum in this task.

 I made a total of 5 samples all involving the materials; roof slate, khaki nails, plumbers putty, rotten wood fencing, brown sealant and fluorescent red acrylic paint.

It was really interesting to see how different they all came out and how the materials all worked in correlation with each other. From doing this process, it has given me an idea of what I want to make as a final piece. As one of my chosen words is sculpture, I want to make an abstract accessory. I'm not quite sure what at the moment but I do know that I would like to work with wood as my main medium.

From this overall task, I have learnt to be a lot more free with experimentation. That way, I will produce the most varied results, being a positive for the development process.

I am happy with all of the outcomes as they will be helpful in the development process. I hope to make shapes out of the samples and possibly start to think about structure.

PICK AND MIX

FRANK STELLA ILLUSTRATION (AUTHOR'S OWN)

For this new project, I selected three words from the list that I felt a personal and creative connection to. These were; Frank Stella, childhood memories, wood and sculpture.

Following my political fashion project where I worked with my younger cousin, I wanted to revisit my childhood. I have a distinct memory of being on my dad’s building sites when I was young, playing with random things found on site, such as plumbers putty and plaster. I would then, when finished playing, destroy my creations, creating sharp edges and unique shapes. Also, making a mess, much to my dad’s dismay. What a shame nothing has changed.

Frank Stella was also a selection of mine as his work to me is so simplistic yet powerful and magical. His effective use of colour and shape is something that I really respond to. For example, Hyena Stomp and Had Gadya are two pieces of his that I am really drawn to. 

Following the research that I have conducted on both Frank Stella and my childhood memories, I began to make links and incorporate my other two chosen words. 

By realising how all the words link so early on in the creative process, it was much easier to decide how I was to develop my idea. This will also benefit my time management! Which feels amazing as that is always something in which I have had an issue with. 

PRINT

I started to look at the hospital gown for inspiration. Yes, they are quite boring. They often have a bland half drop motif pattern such as squares or flowers. I wanted to take the boring motif element of these patterns and turn it into something acidic.

After a couple different designs, I decided to move on from it. This was because, yet again, I felt as if I wasn't providing an answer/solution to my political issue. This was incredibly frustrating and time wasting! I had to start a fresh in order to move on.

I then had a brain wave. I wanted to approach the issue from a little girls point of view as it would have been at the time of the abuse.

I worked with my younger cousin to really get a sense of the innocence inside her head, untainted and imaginative. The ideal pre-teen.

Her favourite thing to do is draw, so I asked her to take over a page in my sketchbook to assess how her mind unravelled. This was such an enlightening process as it gave me various print ideas. I let her draw free hand and also made a couple of requests. I asked her to draw a cigar butt. Of course, she didn't what that was. so I showed her a picture of Saville smoking one. She immediately interpreted the cigar as a troll snorkel, employing that Saville, to her, resembled a troll.

From this initial experimentation, I took to photoshop to develop the ideas digitally. Unfortunately, I felt that my cousin's drawing weren't strong enough on their own. They didn't impact on the answer that I was trying to give.

I combined some ideas from the act of rape development that I did and also looked back at my mood board. I merged the imagery of ripped fabric and the rose tinted view of pre-teen girls overlaid onto my cousin's drawings to produce print that I call "Smoke Away My Innocence".

I feel like this print has been successful as it's very simple, yet still delivers an impact. I asked among my peers for feedback and they all came back positive. They liked the fact that it portrayed vulnerability through that child's drawing but possessed the power and impact of a confident woman.

Overall, I am really happy with how the print has developed and what it represents. I will have to be vary with designing now as I want to showcase this print clearly so that it still delivers the message that was intended.

GRAPHIC DRAPING

Taking a new turn down the road of development, I decided to look into the physical act of rape and tried to portray it in a draping session. I decided to use mesh and netting for this as it represents bridal fabrics that relate to the victims in the sense that their virginities were taken away Saville, therefore they would never be 'pure' (an old fashioned view) for their husband. 

I feel like I achieved a successful outcome. The fabrics actually worked really well in response to the stress and manipulation that I was putting it under. It was interesting to create this, a woman's vision of being raped, onto a man's body. It somewhat feels embarrassing and out of place. Which makes me feel that I am on the way to creating something that the victims will get a sense of justice from. 

From using these fabrics, I really would like to use them in a final piece as the have conceptual reasons for being used. I want to experiment more with them in terms of fabric manipulation to really bring out their full potential.