Unit X - Evaluation

I have reinterpreted a Folktale The Deer without a Heart, focusing on the character of the Brainless Deer to represent a more biologically accurate narrative.  Taking a modern day secular method to retell this fable through stitch enhances both a message of animal rights and also moves the narrative of animals from the remit of children’s stories into more of an adult and academic audience, and offers tactility, delicacy and impact.

 

My first project (Bradford Textiles Society Design Brief) was related to the cruelty of foxhunting and the urbanisation of their habitats, by developing this further I am able to create more narrative and figurative responses to story-telling and allows my strengths to ben known.

 

I use my work to communicate with my audience. I have created a range of fabric samples for different purpose, interior designs, illustration as story-telling and motifs for fashion use.

I have looked at a number of artists and designers including Karen Nicol and Brian Wildsmith for inspiration.

 

Figure 1: Karen Nicol, Fox in the Fall, 2014

Artist based research helps me understand where my work fits.  I somewhere between the busy composition of Wildsmith and the texture and detail of Nicol’s work.

 

Figure 2: Brian Wildsmith

I have studied animal movement, focused on lions, nature documentaries and Simon king photographer as a reference. I developed a number of characters and imagined their own histories and personalities to help give depth to the samples and stitch work that I create.

 

Throughout this project my major challenges were both composition and use of materials. I have successfully managed to use these to help my final pieces and I have found the appropriate materials for a final professional piece.  I am working in duck cotton as a base fabric and also a range of found materials. 

 

I challenged my scale of work in terms of embroidery and have adjusted sizing to not lose detail.  I have also successfully managed to reproduce similar results to my sketchbook work.   Using my sketchbook every day throughout the project has been a major achievement as it helps me with the quality of the output I produce. My sketchbook work shown the range of composition, scales and realism.

 

The final output is a body of sketchbook and sample to draw together both story telling in the traditional sense, but also as a frame my samples and characters. I managed to successfully complete the project within the timescale and also was able to refine several aspects by redoing them on new fabric to make them more professional. After this body of work was completed I continued working alongside International Fashion students to contextualize my employability options and work context for my target audience and how best to market to these groups.

 

 

Reflection/ Evaluation

Figure 1: Photograph taken at Shabby 2 Chic.

I collaborated with my placement, to add a new dimension to my collaborative practice outside of art and design students. The collaboration works towards refurbishing furniture.

This collaboration helps push through my narrative as a practitioner and focuses more on recycling than creating a new piece alongside a three dimensional designer.

See figure 1. 

I have developed a range of skills such as; putting my fabric design on to furniture. 

I find myself working well in this project by good time management and planning, working effectively towards at least a final piece, for the stool was the main visual idea. 

However, the chair of my repeated design will not be part of my collection for the exhibition. This has informed me about the scales and timeframes of a work this size which I will use as a benchmark in future projects. 

For the theme of Whitworth limited editions came across much stronger through the cherry blossom based design.

In comparison to previous designs and sketches I completed, I have put my winter design on to a stool, as an example of the potential of my design in an interior design direction.

 

Figure 2: Autumn

I achieved in making all three collections unseasonal, related and yet individual.

The success of the winter design inspired me to develop the Autumnal work.

Figure 3: Details of Autumn

I pushed myself to carry on developing my skills and taken the risk and carry on working on the autumn theme, for I have taken the time to look back at each stages and realising the autumn season is a confusing season, for the plant are dying, but still growing.

I pushed my inhibitions aside to keep developing the work despite the feeling that I was doing too much to it.  I believe this helped me create a new balance.

Figure 4: The making

This is the piece before I developed it into its new look. We sanded the feet to make them smother to match the edging of the woodwork.

Figure 5: Underneath of the stool

In relation to raising the professional quality of my work.  I decided to analyse the piece from every angle and so used a print on a piece of paper to cover the joins. These are napkins, covered in PVA glue to give a final gloss and to finish the piece off. This print is related to my own design, which enabled me to realise the commercial impact of my work. Other artists are using the techniques I have developed within this project and it helps me identify that my work has relativity to the industry.

Federation house exhibition