Contextual Refrences

Artist: Iris Van Herpen
Source: 'Fashion Futures' by Bradley Quinn

Since starting my mixed media rotation I have spent a lot of time researching into the area of 3D/sculptural fashion and the artist Iris Van Herpen, is one who has showed me the magnitude and beautiful possibilities of this means to create. Herpens' body captivating garments are created using the technologies of 3D printing, capturing the most profound shapes they take the idea of fashion to a whole new level. What I find most endearing about Herpens' work, is her unique ability to take something so foreign and mould it to entrance the body of the wearer and the minds of the viewer. Even though the garments are made using a state of the art process, her work never looses that delicate line quality, the hidden detail and personal flare, aspects that I wish to achieve when translating my work into the 3D world.

Aritist: Noriko Ambe

Source: www.norikoambe.com

Noriko Ambe's 'Linear actions cutting project' is what Ambe describes as her life's work. Time, precision and impeccable detail result in these captivating paper creations. Each piece is created from individually hand cut sheets of paper, stacked together to create surreal, beautiful structures of curve, depth and line. What draws me most to Norikos work is the line quality within her pieces, by using negative and positives shapes she creates shadow throughout her sculptures, achieving such beautiful and organic shapes. I have recently began to experiment with the effects of layering in my own sampling work, using curved shapes and cut out lines to achieve a sense of depth within my ideas.

Artist: Matija Cop
Source: http://www.designcatwalk.com/matija-cop/

What I found most inspiring and interesting about Matija Cops work, is the processes he uses to create his body captivating garments.  Each piece in Cop's 'Object 12-1' collection is made from  laser cut foam pieces, which link together without the use of stitches or glue.  Each garment is made entirely from one single 'mechanism', that is then repeated and connected to create a series of  art fashion pieces. Using the body as his canvas, Matija works around the body, creating garments with sweeping curves and ever-changing edges. This is a characteristic i would like to evolve my own practice in this unit, creating curves and contours by connecting my individual laser cut shapes, this trail of pieces can then be introduced to the body by manipulating flexible points within the samples.

Artist: Students from the Pratt School of Art & Designers from Ralph Pucci Industries.
Source: http://www.ralphpucci.net/editorials/Paper-Pratt-And-Pucci

I first came across this collection of work when researching into the possibilities of 3d paper techniques and it gave me a big inspirational boost regarding how far paper can really go. The collection consisted of several paper garments,  that had been created as a collaboration project between students at the Pratt School of Art and designers for Ralph Pucci. One of my favourite pieces from the collection was the one pictured above, a paper spine made from interlocking paper pieces, similar to the technique used by Martija Cop. What i find most common in my research and interests is this idea of curve, garments working there way around the body. I am looking forward to the stage in this project when i can start working with a mannequin and see how my ideas translate when on the body.

Artist: Hannah Soukup

Source www.hannahsoukup.com

What struck me most about the work of Hannah Soukup, especially the artistic neck piece pictured above, is the elegance she achieves in her work. Even though rigid in structure and created by the use of high tech 3d printing, the curves and intimate lines she creates are truly admirable. Despite the material, her creations resemble an idea of flowing liquid, balancing on the human form. When i review my own drawings and processes, i place a high importance on detailed line, what i aspire from Soukups work is her ability to intertwine fine detail and it not get lost within the piece. 

Mixed Media - Week 1 Review

To begin the week we were given a wall space, where we could each individually display our previous work from this unit. By being able to view my work, from development to final pieces, this allowed me to gain a clear understanding and connection with my strongest reference points, see what techniques and processes where my strongest, as well as deciding how my work could now progress hrough the possibilities of mixed media. In helping with this decision, we were also asked to deicide on a contextual theme that would help to direct our future work, at first this was an idea I found quite difficult to comprehend, so it wasn't until I spent time researching, that I began to find common interest and ideas with work produced for 3D/Sculptural Fashion.

                                                                                                        

As the idea of 3D fashion was one quite new to me, I spent much of my time in week one researching in books and over the internet, to give myself a clear understanding of the possibilities of this profession and how my work could translate through this new means to create. One of my main sources of information was a book I had found in the library, 'Fashion Futures' by Bradley Quinn, the book introduced me to several new artists such as; Iris Van Herpen, Amila Hrustic and Julia Krantz, as well as many new materials and techniques i haven't come across before.

With my new found interest in sculptural design, I began experimenting with paper, exploring the different ways in which I could translate my ideas and drawings into 3D.  Using layering, paper cutting and techniques i had learnt through the book 'Folding techniques for Designers' my confience and knowledge of working sculpturally has progressed, allowing me to develop a new 3D way of thinking as well as sparking new ideas and directions.

                 (Exploring 3D approaches - Curve and Line.)

Throughout the week I have been able to see where my main and most inspirational visual resources have steamed from, my work has extracted  mainly from natural influences, focusing on the representation of line and curve. Having a natural foreground to my work has led me to look at working with materials that reflect this such as; varieties of wood, faux suedes and any materials that poses organic qualities either through colour or texture. I am really looking forward to spending time with the laser cutters next week and seeing where my project can expand too. 

Print - Week 3 Reflection

Week three has yet again been a very busy yet constrcutive week, spent mostly in the print room creating a selective body of screen print work, as well as working with photoshop and digitally scanned motifs to create a series of digital designs.

As my time progressed in the print room i tried to introduce new techniques to my designs, I began to layer up prints by using different colours and masking out areas of a design to add depth and body, as well as experimenting with a variety of fabrics. I particularly enjoyed using transfer paper, cutting out shapes from my designs and then ironing the cut paper onto fabric, so that when I conducted the print, a large area of the fabric was dyed, leaving whole shapes that i then continued to print over using the detailed design, masking areas to add multiple colours, which in whole resulted in one of my favourite and most successful prints.

One of the main things I discovered after I had created a number of prints, was the difficulty I was having with actually combining two of the main colours in my palette, red and green. As they are contrasting colours, it was difficult to introduce them into the same print, which I think was mainly due to the fact that the screen prints I where conducting embodied solid, bold colours, so there was no leeway to alter tone or introduce connecting colours to blend. So in the end as a look over the prints I created, each print either poses the red, orangey tones from my colour palette or multiple shades of green.

It wasn't until I became fully involved in my digital designs that I could begin to overcome the colour problem I had experienced in the print room. As photoshop allowed me to add layers, effects and opacities to my designs, I was able to include the two colours effectively in one design. I have worked with photoshop before to create digital designs, so I was happy to be able to unload these skills again, as well as learning new ones in our taught sessions. Overall I am very pleased with the designs I was able to create in the limited time frame, I enjoy the speed in which photoshop can allow you to work at, creating a multitude of designs in a shorter space of time. However, If i have the time to go back  over some of my designs, I would try darken the colours, to create a more earthy, organic feel.

Print - Week 2 Reflection

Week two of print has been focused on refining our designs for screen printing, finalising our colour palettes and beginning to spend time in the print room.

My first job of the week, extending from work i had begun to prepare in week one, was to finalise my  colour palette, so that it could begin to feed and influence my screen print decision. The image i have chose to work from is a print by one of my favourite artists, Alphonse Mucha. The image hosts a beautiful mixture of organic, bright and tonal colours, providing me with an extensive choice of colour and shade to work from. I chose this image as it embodies colours that I knew i would enjoy working with, green and brown earthy tones, mixed with splashes of bright orange and moody reds. 

Finalisiong our designs for screen print evolved into a very hectic process, due to a limited time frame the task of having to create three separate print designs (stripe, all over and placement) became very testing! Even though I had ideas already set out for my designs, after talks with my print tutors, i was encouraged to sample more and experiment with different compositions. I decided to scan my chosen motifs into to photoshop, so that i could quickly and efficiently whip up new layouts and designs, providing myself with a wider selection to work from . Even though at the time I found this task very full on and stressfull, I do feel that the final designs I chose after viewing my body of work as a whole, where much more effective then those i had originally planned to use. Proving to me that the importance of continual sampling and experimentation, can have a really positive effect on your work.

                 (All over)      (Placement)       (Stripe)

The next step was to begin mixing our own pigment dyes to try recreate the colours sampled from our colour palette, a task that proved harder than I had first anticipated. Due to the strength of the dyes, it was so easy at times to add a little to much and completely throw off a colour I had been working on, so it took a while to gather a selection of mixed dyes i was happy with. Luckily, in Thursdays workshop session, I was left with some time to test my colours by creating some of my first screen prints. I decided to keep them simple, so i could see the individual colours and decipher how well certain colours would work well together, when i moved on to more complex and layered prints.