Showing posts with label Sarah. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sarah. Show all posts

3 Nov 2011

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.

20 Oct 2011

Fibre Arts

In our second fibre arts session, we began with an exhaustive list of artists who work in textiles, both in 3D and more two-dimensional styles, under the umbrella term of fibre arts. Of these, the following caught my attention in particular:

Sheila Pepe
Janet Echelman
Susie MacMurray
Shelley Rhodes
Caroline Bartlett
Michael Brennand Wood
Ma Ke


More on these later.

The remainder of the session was almost entirely practical, with the aim to try out and experiment with a variety of different techniques using a sewing machine, an embellisher, dyes, 'stitch and reveal'. I spent a considerable amount of time with the sewing machines, as I have never used them before and I found them intriguing. It took me some time to get to grips with the basics of the machine, and I wanted to practise more so I spent perhaps more time on the machines than was intended. As such, of the pieces I produced, most were made with the use of the sewing machine.


Stitching and folding

Folding with stitch

Stitch and reveal

Stitch gauze over wool thread, onto white material (1/2)

Additional stitches to hold over the thread, and keep it in place, and also to segment the fabric into cubes (2/2)
Wax relief onto fabric, with dyes washed over the fabric (high resolution scan). Wax was rubbed onto the fabric over  various shapes, as well as being rubbed freehand onto the material.