Working Men's College

Collision

My journey with the Collision project began by visiting the V&A. There I found myself attracted to the costumes and in particular the way the fabric draped and hung from the mannequins

 

My interest in the fluidity of loose fabric continued when I found a book on Tibet. Here I discovered that their pagodas are lined with sheets of fabric on which the wrote out passages from their faith. From the pictures I began to get interested in the structures they used for their housing and how it was all very organic.
After reading this book i became interested in colliding ethnic, organic structures with more rectilinear industrial forms.

Experimenting with partitioning rooms using structures that convey loose lines reminiscent of the loose veils used in the Tibetan culture.  

For this screen I drew inspiration from the woven wooden staffs which the Tibetan's use to create the walls to their tent stile housing.

After experimenting with cloth and ink for inspiration of loose, organic forms I began thinking about the interior I would be working in (Clore Ballroom) I realised that perhaps such fluid forms might not match the use of the space. This lead me to start adding structure to the free flowing fabric.

Sketches of  how structured fabric would be used as well as the use of free flowing lines on the raised seating areas

Transforming the Everyday

The brief of this project was to take an ordinary, everyday object and transform it. With that in mind, I began thinking about the sensations we associate with certain objects and how I could transform my chosen object using those sensations.

My first thought was to transform stiletto heels by showing the pain that they cause the wearer by using both 2-D and 3-D media.

From the clay and toothpick  shoe experiment I became interested in pointillism, which lead me to experiment with how I could represent a Coke bottle out of smaller bottle shapes. 

This idea then developed into "drawing" a Coke bottle out of bubbles, to show the fizz in the drink and once again going back to the idea of using sensations we associate with objects.

I continued to develop the idea of using bubbles, making various 3-D models, changing techniques, materials and overall aesthetic. In some cases keeping a spherical shape proved difficult due to the materials and adhesives not being compatible. In order to over come this issue, I used a series of slits into which the "petals" of the modules I cut out slid into each other and gradually made spherical forms. These would later become the bubbles from which I would make my final piece 

Placing the completed "bottles" into context I believe, contributes to this piece having quite a comic, light hearted feel which complements the playfulness of the "bubbles".

Transcription 

"The Daughter of Herodias" 

Sebastiano del Piombo

Initially what struck me about this painting was the juxtaposition between Herodias'

At first I had thought to make a garment showing the transcription from Sebastiano del Piombo's work, so, using rope, I began to experiment with the idea of braids coiling around the figure as if slowly constricting the life from the body. 

However, I found that this material was rather thick after being braided and so it was difficult to mould it around the natural curves of the human form. 

  As a result, I became interested in painting directly on to the human form, which really allowed me to get a better understanding of how the braids would wrap themselves around the body in reality so as an experiment I believe it was very informative.

However I still wanted to maintain the 3-D aspect of the braids. This lead me to experiment further with clay figures and wrapping braided extensions.

What I found successful about this final outcome was the way in which the braids seem to be slowly releasing their tight constricting curls from around the slumping, lifeless clay figures, resulting in quite a dark yet beautiful picture, much like the background story of  Piombo's "The Daughter of Herodias"