Feedback Week - Gathering Visual Research

Throughout Feedback week we had the opportunity to work independently and gather a body of visual research to kick start our new unit ‘Data, Collections and Lists’. We were advised to visit various places around Manchester that would provide us with excited and diverse ideas such as; The Manchester Museum, The Holden Gallery and The Visual Resources Centre. As I planned my week, I wanted to ensure my time throughout was well organised and well used, providing time to gather research and then respond to my findings through sketchbook development and reflective drawings.

The highest source of Inspiration for me came from The Manchester Museum. Being new to the city, this was my first ever visit and I was pleasantly surprised by the amazing collections and artifacts the museum had to offer.  As I wandered around I became attracted to the large variety of human and animal skeltons that where on show, with a main focus being on the organic lines and curves that where created by the spinal structures and the way the skeltons where postioned to reflect movement.  I reflected on this by conducting onsite drawings and taking many pictures for later refrence, focusing on how I could manipulate the skeletal curve to create new shapes and patterns.  As well as this other areas that grabbed my attention where the large collection of rocks, crystals and minerals, an area I have always found insightful and inspirational and also an unexpected interested in fragments, shards of  pottery ranging from roman, greek and eqyptian periods.

Origins Evaluation.

My time over the past 6 weeks  has been spent within the two specialisms Construct and Embroidery. The main focus of the origins unit has been toward sampling, creating smaller pieces that represent a variety of ideas and techniques. My ideas within the unit came from a collection of objects I had gathered over the summer, each object was either found or gifted, this way I knew that each item had a particular significance or story and would provide me with an interesting basis for development. Friday drawing days also made up for a large part of this unit, spending time away from the workshops gave us the opportunity to fully focus on drawing,  allowing us to explore many different possibilities and techniques and create a body of work that could then be translated into our studio practice.

My first three weeks within knitting where challenging but overall very rewarding. Being at a beginner level within this specialism, my main source of output through knit, was through the representation of colour. Working closely with my objects through Friday drawing days and sketch book development, I gradually acquired a colour palette that allowed my samples to become more thought after and focused. However, due to the fact that our time within knitting required lots of practice toward technical sampling, this sometimes made it hard to concentrate solely on pieces that related to my objects. Throughout knit I feel that my awareness toward colour selection was greatly improved, being selective with colour combinations and aware of fibre qualities really made the difference in creating an effective sample; as some techniques worked better with a variety of colours and different fibre qualities introduced an element of texture and surface to the knit.
As my time in knit came to a close, it was interesting to be able to look back at my technical file and see all the different techniques we had learnt over such a short space of time. I think that if I had more time within knit, I would of been able to create a stronger set of samples that related to my objects, as at the end of the three weeks my work was very much technical based.

(Knitted sample relating to my feather earring; using e wrapping and tension techniques) 

My second rotation was in the area of embroidery and was definitely the rotation which i enjoyed the most. My time was spent working with hand and machine embroidery, learning technical skills as well as focusing on abstract representation through drawing and stitch. Friday drawing and sketchbook development played a big part in this rotation, which immediately made me more comfortable, as I have always used experimental drawing as a helpful tool to development. We were
 encouraged to work with an abstract mindset, focusing on line, shape, colour and texture. It wasn't until my one on one tutorial with Kate on our final week, that I actually realised how strong the abstract feel was already apparent in my drawings, I tend to work closely with mark making and bold  line and shape, aspects that can be strongly represented through embroidery and stitch. I think that If I had payed more attention to my drawings in the first weeks of embroidery, this would of helped my ideas evolve much quicker. Even though towards the end I felt more focused on my ideas, my end samples overall did not turn out as well as i feel they could. However, i do feel this was also due to my lack of knowledge with the m
achines, as some times I would find it hard to be creative while still getting to grips with the techniques and stitches.

(Final Embroidery Sample - Machine)

Overall my time within origins has been a real learning curve, having the opportunity to work within two specialisms over one unit of study, allowed me to explore and understand the many different ways to create and make. The focus of the unit itself has been challenging at times, as the main idea was to create samples, this sometimes hindered creativity, especially in the knitting unit. However, I do understand the importance of sampling, as it allowed creativity to be based solely on exploring many different techniques and approaches, allowing me to find strengths and weaknesses within my practice.

                                                          (Example from Friday Drawing Days)

Embroidery & Drawing

Putting a big emphasis on drawing throughout my embroidery rotation, has really helped me understand the importance that visual response has to studio practice. By creating a large quantity of drawings, each using different mediums and drawing methods such as; collage, painting and unusual techniques such as 'blind' drawing, this provided me with a extensive base of ideas that each highlighted different areas of development. By having a visual pallette, this helped to inform my decision making regarding materials and threads,  for example if my drawings had a bold approach I could represent this through using thicker threads or cording techniques. I found that as the weeks progressed it was important to find a balance between conducting an idea for the sample and actually letting the materials and fibres play a part in the direction of the development, as this resulted in the most effective samples. At first we were asked to used monochrome tones as are palette, but as my drawings evolved I found it hard to leave out the colour, as it has always been an element I have been comfortable using.

After a one to one critique session with Kate, it became clear to me how abstract my drawings and ideas tend to be, which is actually something I haven't explored much before. After realising my eye for composition and shape, it then became easier to relate my drawings through stitch. I could use combinations of fabrics to create layers within my pieces, and cording techniques to add line and texture. Eventually I noticed that my samples where slowly evolving into a combination of ideas from all my drawings. Instead of creating a single drawing and recreating it through stitch, I began to extract and instruct the qualities from a number of different drawings, to create an abstract and focused sample, that represented my own 'handwriting' .

The pictures above demonstrate my translation from drawing to stitch. The object I was analysing was a feather earring, I started off by using collage techniques to add block colour and then worked in to the drawing with a variety of line to represent the shapes within the object. I tried not to make my translation into stitch too literal as I wanted the embroidery piece to be its own idea, one that had just extracted aspects from my drawing and evolved into a stitched piece. I would however, with more time, wished to add more to this piece through hand stitching; such as french knots and hand satin stitch. I personally favour the quality of hand stitched pieces but with having such a short time frame, the machine allowed me to create more samples to demonstrate my work.

The limited time frame was one of the elements i really struggled with within in this unit, my development process is usually made up of a variety of experimental work and  spans over a longer period. I tend to spend lots of time building a collection of drawings, combining them with artist research to create a strong basis from which my ideas can evolve. So I noticed that when having to complete samples over a couple of days, my ideas felt hindered and didn't develop as efficiently or end up the way i would of originally hoped.

My time in embroidery has really helped me understand my personal assets as a textile artists, seeing where my strengths lie and how I can work with those positives to create my own stamp and way of working. I allow the drawings i construct now to portray that personal flare and hope that with more practice i can learn to confidently translate those ideas through stitch and embroidery.  Overall the specialism has been one which I have thoroughly enjoyed and has already helped me expand as an artist even after just three short weeks.

Contextual Research - Embroidery

Sarah Davidson is a multi disciplined artist who's work branches throughout mixed media, textiles, illustration and embroidery.  Davidson is an up and coming artist who recently graduated with first class honours from Cleveland College of Art and Design. What first attracted me to Sarahs work, was her abstract approach to drawing, using techniques such as collage to build up a layer of marks and lines, that represent an object or idea in a very personal way. 

Since starting my degree and delving into the possibilities and importance of drawing, I have began to discover an abstract approach within my own artistic 'hand writing' which with the encouragement of drawing days is beginning to show itself more and more. Sarahs work has inspired me to expand this desire to work freely and openly and enjoy my own responses to making, which can sometimes be dismissed by the fear of not doing something correctly, or to the 'norm'.

Contextual Research - Embroidery

                     Erin Endicott - Healing Sutras

Erin Endicott is a contempoary embroidery artist, who's free and expressive pieces stem from a spiritual and mediative approach, that she harnesses from the natural world around her. Usually with a textile base of found or antique materials, each piece evolves from a strong connection and knowledge within a subject. What i enjoy most about Erin's work is the integrated meaning behind the stitches and marks, which at first glance seem very abstract. I have always admired this sort of process, where line and mark instruct and develop the piece, letting the fabric, fibre and meaning lead the making.

Erin uses a staining processes, a favoured medium being walnut ink, to create a bass on the fabric that will guide her stitches, in an interview with a journalist from textileartist.org Erin states "I do not plan my pieces or have a pre conceived notion as to how they will look when I am done. My hand just follows where my heart tells it to go!". This is a notion I hope to develop into my own work and why I admire Erins work so much, taking a step away from the literal, and allowing my work to harness and develop for itself, through the materials and mediums i choose to use. 

Contextual Research; Construct - Sibling Autumn/Winter 2013.

Sibling are a London based knitwear collective, comprised of artists, Joe Bates, Sid Bryan and Cozette McCreery. Launched in May 2008 the collective was born with a desire to re create and expand the possibilities of knitwear fashion, an aim which they have achieved above and beyond. Their flamboyant creations which the designers themselves label as their 'knitted monsters', combine extreme structures, statement textures and extravagant pattern and bold colour combinations. Their menswear label Sibling and its womenswear equivalent Sister by Sibling, have been a brand that continually leaves its mark upon the runway and by looking at their designs it is clear to see why.

I was first introduced to the collective during my time in my contrust rotation, and was immediately drawn to their out of the ordinary and statement style, presenting me with a side to knit wear i had never come across before. Within their Autumn/Winter 13 collection, a strong use of monochrome pattern against block colours was an element most profound within the range, which appealed and related greatly to my current studies, and was an element i then introudycred into my own knitted sampling. 

After my initial spark for the collectives creations, my further research only pushed this interest further, their views as fashion designers to break past the norm and create items that are truly individual to their statement as artists, only makes their creations even more brilliant. True portrayals of their playful yet eccentric natutre, gives  knitwear fashion that playful, upbeat and vibrant feel that is sometimes hard to find.