Where do I fit in the world of Art and Design?

My current work could be applied to a variety of contexts, adapting and refining in order for it to fit that purpose. I think collaboration will be key in the future to realise the potential for my surfaces. I have a flexible approach to art and design and wish to work on projects that cross disciplines. Evidence of this can be seen in the external projects I have done over this year. All very different in context and allowing me to show my potential to work in a variety of ways, utilising and adapting my skills to answer briefs to a high standard.

I am mixed media designer/artist, and although I have invested a lot of time into a particular process and set of materials, I am not limited to these, and am keen to explore many other materials and techniques. My practice will always be concept driven, in particular by my love of pattern, rhythm, repetition, structures and form and I am also keen to keep my experimental and flexible approach.

Neckpieces by Sarah Angold

One designer who's approach I admire is Sarah Angold who over the Easter break I approached regarding work experience opportunities. Sarah Angold is a multi-disciplinary designer I discovered during my research this year. I admire her work as she has a strong aesthetic but applies her designs to a variety of contexts including bespoke jewellery, lighting and installation whilst collaborating with other designers on exciting projects. I didn’t expect to hear back so was thrilled when I got a reply offering an interview over Skype the next day. The interview went really well and two weeks later I was offered the role. I will be starting 28^th July, three days a week until 1^st October. Hopefully I will gain an insight into the running of a small, multi-disciplinary studio and learn about what it takes to operate as an independent designer.

Manchester International Festival

Team MIF

1. Sculptural statement piece                                       2. Smaller printed and laser cut pieces with tassels

The MIF board: This has been a useful visual reference for collaboration, keeping us organised

A quick animation we made for the presentation articulating the playful nature of the collection.

This project has been a fantastic opportunity. I have learnt so much, being pushed well outside my comfort zone on many occassions.  It has also been a great experience, collaborating with my friends and drawing together our skills and working methods to answer the brief. The brief is to design a collection of seat covers to dress the modular seating on the roof terrace of the Benzie Building. These seats will be heading over to Alberts Square for the duration of Manchester International Festival and the organisers wanted to add a bit of comfort to them.

Initially working individually, Annie, Lucinda and I eventually decided to collaborate as combining our skills would create an exciting outcome. The piped and wadding surfaces I have been working on in the Practice unit have provided a good starting point for the project as they already work as a surfaces for interiors. 

This project has demanded a technical and thorough approach, particularly in the designing, cutting out and construction of the pieces. My skills have developed in this area and I have realised it is one of my strong points. The project has also required excellent communication skills between the three of us which I think has been key to the success of the project so far. We have ensured that all three of our individual identities have come through in the work, as well as creating a strong visual aesthetic for the collection. I have also developed my finishing skills as the project has required finished products in contrast to the rough samples from the Practice unit.

The collection combines all of our practices, making printed, embossed, folded and laser cut surfaces to create interesting surfaces which are then constructed and stuffed to make soft, tactile covers.  We suggested that pink is added to the colour pallet which Gemma from MIF loved, so we have used this to add fun, bright accents to the pieces. We decided to keep the construction simple, utilising the eyelet machine, developing on from my samples in the Practice unit. We also developed the tassels from my initial sampling into more refined fringing, cut out on the laser cutter, to add even more tactility to a selection of the covers.

Pitching to the panel at M.I.F head quarters was one of the scariest things I have ever done, but it felt amazing afterwards from all the positive feedback we received for our prototypes, making all our hard work well worth it. I worked out the costings for the presentation and made sure they were accurate. This has been an important skill to develop and I feel confident to do it in the future. Over the next few weeks we will be producing 50 covers ready for the festival at the start of July. It is a huge task but we are prepared and organised and it will all be worth it when we see our designs used and enjoyed by the public. 

Vertical Gallery Commission

Visualisation the window space

This was an exciting opportunity to present to a panel, pitching my proposal for a space in the vertical gallery during degree show. It will allow me to make work at a larger scale that I otherwise would be able to afford. My work has potential to work on a large scale in a gallery/installation environment so I am keen to develop it for this purpose.

Preparing for the pitch was difficult, as it required a clear idea with dimensions, costings, fixings etc. I tried my best to visualise my design in the space, with estimations. This was good experience, as when pitching for opportunities outside university, clients will want a definite, clear proposal. 

Learning from previous presentations this year, I prepared during the week leading up to the pitch, wrote cue cards and practised a lot. It paid off as I made it through without stuttering or shaking like last time and I came away feeling that was a huge achievement in itself even if I didn’t get the place.

 The questions went well and the panel seemed to like my work, although I did find them a little unprofessional at times, not introducing them selves, and sometimes not listening. But overall it was a great experience and I feel confident to do something like this again.

My design is made up of modules, each exploring the natural, organic form of my surfaces. I have pitched for a window space as I want the piece to interact with the light. The testing period went well and I have been given the commission to realise my design. There is a lot of work to be done but my time management skills have become strong during the year and I am confident I can balance it along side the rest of my work.

Collaboration Talks

This project I have met with a couple of students to talk about potential collaborations. Soo Ty is fashion design student who shares a similar contextual references and an interest into expandable surfaces/garments. Although we loved each others work and there was a real potential for a great project, we agreed that we didn't have enough time realise it along side the work load we already had. I also thought that the aesthetics we are working towards didn't really gel.

Hoda is  on 3D Design course she approached me after seeing my space in the studio. We had a few chats about collaborating on a light, using my surfaces. However, I think the project wasn't going to be a balanced collaboration as Hoda's own work is not quite developed enough to insert her creative aesthetic into the project, and although it is great that a student wants to make my work into a light, I wouldn't want the project to use up the time she needs to invest into her own practice.

Both were positive experiences and I would feel confident to approach someone again in the future with collaboration in mind.

The Lost Carnival

1. Prada 2011                                            2. Fish Scales                                       3. Lorenzo Nanni

Hermit Crab Design: Embroidered cording, dyed felted merino wool with beading on milliners net base

Fish Design: Embroidered Scales, dyed embroidered organdie on milliners net base

Earlier in the year I was approached by Wild Rumpus events to work on their event coming up in May, The Lost Carnival.  I chose to work on the headpieces for two mermaid costumes. A fashion student at Salford University is working on the costumes, so I got in touch with her to collaborate so that our designs work well together. Unfortunately she hasn’t been easy to communicate with so I just went on ahead with the project. I suppose this could be the case in the outside world, not everyone being easy to work with so it's all good experience in how to deal with that.

I have researched haute couture such as Dior, Versace and Prada, all of which have done collections inspired by the sea.  I referenced Lorenzo Nanni who creates organic forms using traditional embroidery techniques and also looked at fish scales and shells.

I used this opportunity to explore traditional embroidery processes and materials as I felt these would best suit the aesthetic of the festival. Designing for costume, specifically headwear has been new for me, but I have enjoyed a clear destination to work towards. I designed shapes that would fit the head well, keeping the context clear in mind. As the pieces are for performance, I decided big impact was important as the performers will be moving around and seen by a large audience.

The hermit crab consists of a shell structure made of milliners net, hand stitched and covered in embroidered cording made using the Irish sewing machines. The crabs body is made of hand felted merino wool, which were then dyed using acid dyes, inserted with wire to give them structure, wrapped with thread and hand beaded to add texture. The fish is also made using milliners net with added wire to make it a strong structure. The scales are all embroidered using the Multi-head, and were then hand stitched to the base. The fin and tail are made of cotton organdie which I choose as I holds its shape and doesn’t fray to easily. I hand painted them using reactive dye in a blended wash effect. 

I have really enjoyed this project and am pleased with the outcome. It has allowed me to explore several dying and textiles techniques, whilst keeping to a budget and tight deadline. It has also been nice to work on along side my other work, something fun and cheerful that will be used for performance so people can enjoy and interact with them.

Silicone Development

Samples exploring form, colour and pattern

Surface visualised as tactile rug

Playful fashion collages

During my feedback from the Practice Unit,  Mark and I agreed that the silicone insert sample I had started was successful and is something to develop during Unit X. I discovered that the silicone can be dyed using disperse so this has allowed me to explore colour. I stuck to pink and blue at first, and later on added purple and black. I wanted them to look clean and modern and found these colours suited that aesthetic. The placement of the inserts within the laser cut neoprene allowed me to explore pattern and form. I adjusted the scale of the neoprene incisions so that the silicone inserts sit tightly in the spaces with out falling out. I also explored the length of the silicone inserts, making some longer so that they prorated out of the surface, whilst others I kept shorter so that they sat within.

These surfaces are flexible, bright and fun, and interact with the light due to the translucency of the silicone.  I imagine these surfaces for interiors as tactile floor and wall coverings. The sculptural quality of the samples lends them to be used on the body which I have suggested in a collection of playful collages.

I also entered one of these samples into the Bradford Textiles competition in the new technologies category. I didn't win but it was a good experience and will enter again next year when hopefully my practice is more developed. 

Live Project: Primary Europe

Visualisation of design combining tactile surfaces with expanding neoprene

I'm so glad I got involved with this project. It was a pitch a piece of work for Primary Europe's office space off Albert Square. Although I did not win the commission, the experience of pitching and applying my work to this kind of context was really beneficial and I would feel confident to do it again. For the pitch we had to put together a 5 minute presentation, including visualisations, budget, and technicalities like fixings and size. The panel asked some difficult questions but I feel I answered the best I could, and gave me an idea of the kind of things that a client would want to know if I were to pitch again in the future. It is nice to see my work visualised on this scale and could be a possibility for Unit X.

Halloween at Peel Park

Spooky grave stones made of canvas frames with painted black silhouettse behind

Hanging sculptures

On Halloween I assisted local community artists Fi Smith and Jo Filey, set up at Peel Park in Salford for the Halloween event that evening. I met Fi over the summer at the Just So Festival I worked at, helping her with a lantern making workshop she runs. It was insightful to chat to them both about their work and how they make money, they were both really generous with advice. The set pieces were a mixture of work form previous years and new stuff made especially and it was good to see how a community event like that is set up. I hope to stay in touch with Fi and Jo and help them out in the future.

Set Dressing Work experience

The dressed space

Props include book, frames, branches and lots of draped fabric

This weekend I went down to London to assist Abi Sehmi, the set dresser/stylist on a music video shoot for a band called Perhaps Contraption. The day was really long but fun, assisting Abi dressing the space ready for filming. We had to move things around during the shoot to suit different camera angles, and to not inter fear with the projections. It was really useful chatting to Abi about where she sources materials for projects and what other things she works on, which is a lot. She also plans events/parties all around London and tours the festivals in the summer with the events company she works at. It made me realise that this industry is really faced paced and no job is permanent. A lot of people don't do just one thing, so meeting the right people is essential to get your name out there and finding work. But it is a fun atmosphere would love to do something like this again.