Fibre arts

Today was the concluding session in our diagnostic period for fibre arts. We have been asked to conclude, in one way or another, our active work and either to produce a final piece (although this is not necessarily the recommended choice) or to present the samples and work we have already created, alongside a body of artist research. I struggled to think of ways to collate the work I had already done, as the majority of it did not have much in the way of rationale behind it, and after looking through some books of various textile artists I decided that it would be more interesting to invent some other way of presenting the work, preferably with an emphasis on 3D, or at least a more physical representation.

I began this process a little bit yesterday, with the piece of work using bondaweb:

On the top right corner of the piece, I added a hook, similar to that you might find on a tea-towel or an item of clothing, for hanging. I liked the idea of the piece being something practical in a sense at least, something that can be hung up anywhere, taken from one context to another. This idea stuck with the direction I'm taking the presentation of the work overall. At first, I stitched three pieces of work that were similar sizes and proportions to each other, two of which were made in the same method, the third in the centre being unrelated in design. From here, I thought about ruffling some fabric and then stitching the three pieces onto it, but after experimenting with pins and observing the contrast of the materials, I decided that this looked flat and rather bland. I then started toying with the composite piece sewed it together in on itself, creating a tube, which I then sewed up one end of, contorting the shape. There is more I would like to do with this, but I am unsure as of yet what exactly it is that I am moving towards.

Later, I decided that I could stitch all the remaining sample pieces on to one large piece of fabric, that itself would in turn be sewn into a type of bag, which I may stuff with other material. This would create a physical object that presents the work I have done, that can be handled and that encourages experience of texture and physicality. Similar to my interests in spaces, I have a related interest in the inverse nature of space, which is of course the occupation of space, into which there is a further layer which is the surface of occupied space. We live and work in spaces, but the items that we fill these spaces with are ultimately what occupy us ourselves.