OCA Textiles 3: Personal Specialism Assignment Three- Response to Formative Tutor Feedback

Review Process of Textile Work Completed for Assignment 3

Continuing Themes include Larger Scale, Textural Qualities with Colour Palettes based upon Muted Natural Tones with a Bright Accent

From the tutor feedback received I continued to review all my textile work for assignment three from the personal specialism course. I was pleased with the feedback given, of the acknowledgement of the interesting body of work which was submitted from a deepening level of investigation. Lizzy Levy stated that there had been many pleasing outcomes where collage had been used successfully to inform design compositions. It had been evident that both primary and secondary sources of research are supporting this exciting period of creative design. Such feedback was especially pertinent given the scale of sampling work which had been undertaken and completed through the effort extolled. In addition to this I recognised the benefits from being thrown off course due to the pandemic, to have to rethink completely my sampling processes for this course as it encouraged an increased experimental approach to sampling. That said I was able to follow up with prior tutor recommendations holistically as I managed to integrate weaving and print into a credible whole.

I was once more led by the material and its qualities to help inform the subsequent processes as muslin with its natural properties of brittleness and fragility exemplified my context through its construction and meaning as well as the muslin being appropriately sourced. Despite working on smaller scale, I still felt fully immersed and engaged, in relationship with the material which produced a deepening level of enquiry and emotional connection. While I aim to focus on larger scale screen printing with repurposed materials I have been significantly influenced by my relationship with muslin. From this range of sampling processes muslin seems to best reflect all the subtle nuances of print to show the delicacy of every line, variation in colour and mark making which will be further capitalised upon as appropriate to the ongoing artwork involving collage with drawing and painting alongside mixed media.

The more textural elements of ink jet printing worked well with the colour and line used, I learned a lot from the extensive experimentation undertaken which can be carried forward to larger scale screen printing. I aim to experiment more with my own artwork including mixed media but to increasingly refine my focus around process, of being in relationship with the material itself to enable deeper relating and responding. Such relating enabled a more intense emotional connection and level of reciprocation through understanding and respecting the properties of the material and working with the cloth to optimise outcomes. On saying this the themes of scale, texture and colour will continue to influence my work in a series of more muted, softer tones. As suggested by my tutor I aim to capture the beautiful ethereal quality of muslin both within smaller-scale sampling processes and through completing larger scale printed textiles. Given that most of the material used originated from remnants this seems to fit with my process as well as the context, of the representation of fragments of time and experiencing.

I felt that the integrated woven pieces with print had a much stronger connection to context and brought together the sampling processes through the same depth of relating and emotional resonance within both woven and printed textiles. I aim to continue to develop such an emotional connection with the materials through integration. I aim to generate imagery in print which continues to reflect fragility, fragmentation, disruption, disintegration, and fractured-broken themes in line with the context of environmental fragility. The work to be undertaken will continue to utilise more delicate, sheer, and fine materials especially cotton muslin both in print and weave given its history, origins, and the environmental costs of producing cotton supports further use. While endorsing ethical practices within my creative processes, working in ways which support the environment including reclaiming, reusing, repurposing and recycling materials I recognise the need to continue to stretch myself  to further develop my use of tapestry weaving to contextualise beyond two dimensional interpretations to research more widely beyond what is known to be more influenced by conceptual and visual artists as applicable to print and weaving.

In looking at the three-dimensional work of Eszter Bornemisza again I aim to try and move beyond two-dimensional sampling to experiment more with delicate materials including a range of paper, to use manipulation techniques to distress, alter, and effect material surfaces in increasingly contemporary, creative, and innovative ways.

Eszter Bornemisza has continually worked with recycled paper, textiles and other found soft materials which relates to the context in which I work with textiles. Her wall hangings have helped me to recognise the added worth of paper as a material to use through my own creative process and within finished pieces. Although I did not progress through to fruition such ideas previously given the scale of sampling work which was undertaken with print and weave, I felt that I would carry this forward. Through an increased research process, I aim to extend my use of materials and how I use them through capitalising upon a range of different paper types.

Through preliminary research on artists who work with paper I located Val Britton’s monumental sculptures made from cut paper, ink and threads which helped me to see the many merits and functions of paper. The artists installations often seem compiled of many fragments of paper which have been blown with the wind and have taken flight like Cascade (2013) which is suspended over several floors. The theme of connection and physical space through layering processes appears to be central to her work. She employs contemporary technologies like laser cutting to create many of her installations. The artist stated I am particularly interested in the unique and sensitive mark-making potential of printing on paper. Britton says. She is still exploring everything paper can do. This interest has extended to the way paint is absorbed by paper and the endless ways paper can be drawn on, cut, embossed, and manipulated, both two-dimensionally and sculpturally. I really responded to the series of spatial layering using collage, print and imagery which resonated with my own aesthetic which helped to start a flow of ideas for future work.

Maija Luutonen is a visual artist who works mainly in paper, painting and drawing on sheets and rolls of paper that hang off walls or inhabit a range of different spaces as she examines scale and space. There is a focus upon layering several co-existing images on top of each other to form a kind of alternative space which I could relate to in considering my own layering preferences. The artist stated that the use of paper is the study of both surface and material which afforded me a further reframe towards the use of paper. I liked the ideas of impermanence which related to the ephemeral and linked into ethereal qualities which I have worked to evoke and aim to continue to create within my textile work which is in keeping with my core themes. I was also struck by the artists wave series which enabled me to reflect upon further possibilities through the manipulation of paper.