Visible Mending...

Feel very lucky and inspired to have had the chance to curate The Visible Mending Project at Uni... Had to send it on this week and just had confirmation from Carol to say it has arrived back with her today, ready to be sent on to the next destination... Photos of my area and my additions to Visible Mending are on her Pinterest, check it out ...

Blog: http://artrovings.wordpress.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Cuinamo

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/socengage/

Deadline: Studio Area & Evaluation.

Inspired by Rosmarie Trockel, I decided to frame my samples as my final presentation. I am really happy with how these have turned out, I feel its the first time my samples look complete and finalised and with the addition of the labels, there clearer to read. I think the frames also show the sequential element of each sample, but allow you to view each day individually, as well as a complete month.

As an improvement, i hung the left wall of samples so they were in date order and then hung the right, but now reviewing them, i would have gone across both walls so the date order was left to right over the two boards.

The colour scheme and suitcase, i chose to keep with a vintage, feel. My research into postcards, (Visible Mending and Post Secret) inspired me to think about travel and memories, all elements of a diary, so as a final presentation i wanted to play with different medias, to see which conveyed the strongest narrative. Visible Mending i patch worked the wall with selected wallpapers, so for my own samples i decided to paint the boards just to take away from the white wall feeling, but still thinking about gallery spaces and how to invite the audience in. 

The suitcase and Visible mending also allow people to interact with the work, read people's postcards and touch the samples. As now my samples have been framed they have lost the element of them being tactile, and being able to touch and hold them, but going back to what Trockel's work is about, i feel this challenges what is Craft and what is Art. Now my samples can't be interacted with, and are hanging on a wall, are they now seen as Art or still a Craft? 

Beach Experiment Two

When i first laid my samples on the beach, the colours in my samples really popped and i felt they had such a strong Narrative. I wanted to develop this and go back onto the beach, but this time hang them like a washing line, as this was something i had experimented with in different locations...

Unfortunately because of how strong the wind was, the samples pegged were wrapping around the line, so we were unable to get any successful photos, and i didn't want to chance loosing any.

However I love how moody these photos look, how the weather can portray a mood.

Rosmarie Trockel

Rosmarie was suggested to me as an Artist to research, and to begin with i wasn't sure if i liked her work or even if i understood it.

I selected two exhibition's of Rosmarie's that stood out to me for different reasons.

I chose Trockel's knitted paintings, as to me these are very similar to my craft, and i felt i could relate to them. In weave we create card windings to test ideas and widths with our dyed or un dyed yarn before putting a warp onto our loom. This instantly became relevant and i could see the textile reflection in her work. Something that also appealed to me was how she pushes the boundaries, of what is Art and what is Craft, and this is a question I've been asking myself while researching this project, can Textiles be Art? ... Does there have to be the divide, in who is a craftsperson and who is an Artist?

'A Cosmos' captured my attention more closely relating to Diaries. When i saw these framed pieces, i instantly thought it could be a visual interpretations of someone's diary entry, and the way Trockel has framed the installation, gives it a fragility and vulnerability that diaries so often have.

I also wanted to take from both these exhibitions the use of Framing, it's not something i have thought about before, and when developing my samples, i have tried hanging them, or taking them out into locations, but i feel to look at they can often become just one big jumble, and are viewed as one piece, not really being appreciated individually, which is a quality i think framing could bring into my work, to give it a different perspective, to what i have previously explored.

As a development, I decided to collect the yarn from the installation and weave with what came out of the Tree's.

The samples weren't controlled just made and woven with what had been tied together and the order it came out the tree's, so the patterns created were random and not up to me.

My Sample dated 22nd October 2015, was created out of the Yarn i used in the Tree's for my first Woodland Experiment, in this same way. 

Before Christmas i took my samples out to the woods, near my family home and also experimented with using Yarn in some of the tree's, one of the experiments i left in the woods. I went back today to see if it was still there...

What really amazed me about this, was that the colours and yarn looked untouched. Despite all the rain and winds we have had, it looked perfect and unfound.

My Nature Samples.

These are some initial experiments, incorporating Nature with weave, woven on my Rigid Heddle Loom, same as my diary samples. I chose to keep the yarns i used natural, so they reflect the subject.

As a development on these, i would like to do more, from different walks and locations, but also take photos of the locations the found materials came from.

Jo Aylwin - Many Walks

As i have taken my samples out into different environment's something i wanted to develop on, was bringing these environments into my samples. Start incorporating nature and the element of the found and discarded into my work.

An exhibition i found as a starting point for this was Jo Aylwin's Many Walks, these are photo's i took of Jo's work, she did one afternoon. The samples were inspired by a walk she went on one sunny weekend and her samples represent a few things she found on this walk.

Something i quiet like about incorporating nature, is that it is temporary, flowers or leaves over time will die, but also depending on the time of years, depends on the colour and conditions of whats around, so that also holds a strong narrative.

Development

As a bit of a fun progression , i decided to try dip dying my bed sheet samples, testing effect and seeing if hand dying a warp could be something to think about when developing my research towards a final piece.

Further Experiments...

After using left over ribbons and paper, I wanted to develop on materials I could use, but still thinking about a diary...

I started to use old clothing and bedsheets...

The bed sheet samples, made me reflect back to when i researched Tracey Emin at the beginning of this project, How something as everyday as your bed, can become a sanctuary and also hold alot of narrative.

I also used a pair of my old jeans to create a sample, for people who know me i have an addiction to 'holey' jeans and i live out a pair at a time until they can't be worn anymore, but to me, they have become a comfort, i feel there a part of who i am, by having a signature hole in the knee.