Senior Project Assignment 1

Creative statement
I wanted to create a free spirited collection of textiles that combine chaos with logic. This is executed through free hand dying and structured tie dye. One fabric in particular uses burning with fire as a way to create burn and smoke effects on the textile.
Textile designers that have work like mine
Alexandria Beckett (hand paints textiles)
Jennifer Dodge (she told me my work looks similar to hers)

Inspiration:

Itemized list of materials
 6 yards of linen @ $16 a yard- $96
4 yards of heavy cotton @ $4 a yard- $16
4 light acrylic paints- $45
1 pack of metallic pigment- $14
3 packs dye- $18
Yarn-free

Textiles and their processes

Tiger textile
Fold and dye
Dry
Fold and dye again
Spread dye across in missed areas

Blue textile
Mixed pigment with paint
Painted linen
Let it dry
Repeated process twice

Check textile
Folded textile
Sewed it to keep it in place
Dip dyed the folds
Let dry
Unstitched the folds
Painted orange with a paintbrush to create check

Hairpieces
Wove textile in blue cotton yarn
Made linear repeat in design for 2 of them, others are a plain weave

Burnt textile
Dyed textile in folds
Created checks
Burnt textile in areas while tied to create a burnt tie dye effect

Sample textiles (Pre group production)

Actual Textiles made

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sociology: Gender Roles and Fashion

This was the inspiration behind my creative project for a sociology class I am currently in.

Creative Project sociology

The Idea
My idea was to create garments for this project. These garments would be based on the following learned content from the class:
The association of things and certain genders
Gender roles
And Title IX

The Inspiration
Many designers for the past 3 consecutive seasons have shown men in kilts and skirts. I found it ironic that we associate women with skirts more so than men, and this was the perfect class to make such a design for.
Many designers also used the theme of sports jerseys or their lettering/numbering as inspiration for many shirts as well. This trend is worn on both the runway, and by the masses, and is therefore considered a fashion trend.

Inspiration: Givenchy

Inspiration: Gareth Pugh

Inspiration: Rick Owens

My Creation:

The Look:

The Conclusion:
I concluded that gender roles, although sometimes helpful, can also sometimes hinder or put restraints on things we do, just as we have learned in class.
There are masculine and feminine behaviors that both men and women do when they perform their gender.
Men and women should be treated equally

Art 438 Final Project: Exterior of Palace of Versailles

Versailles En Couleur

My final project was based on the exteriors of the Palace of Versailles. I included the wonderful gardens, the gates, the tile at the front entrance, and the exterior of the palace itself as inspiration for the line of textiles. The end use for these are all menswear.

Art 156: Final Project

My final project was a commentary on global warming and it’s effects on the homes of polar bears. I was very inspired by the CAFAM visit and it’s relation to art and weather. These garments that have been burnt or “melted” represent the melted and still melting home of the polar bears in the arctic. I embroidered a polar bear face with the eyes burnt out as well.

Art 499: dying 3-D objects

I did my last 499 project on dying three dimensional objects. 2 of these objects were dyed after they were made 3D, and one was purposefully made 3D after dying. The two that were made 3D prior to dying were wool. They were felted objects made via needle felting. They both turned out fantastic. The 3rd object was paper. I used tracing paper to see how the dye would take to a transparent paper. It turned out great. The colors in all three are vibrant. I used the same black and orange color palette as the last project. I gained inspiration from a blog about dying wool on a toy website called handmadefelttoys.com. This shows how to dye using food coloring and was essentially the same process, minus having to wash them with dishsoap prior to dying. 

Art 302: Daily Dress Journal Day 5

Today’s outfit was one I had to wear to multiple destinations. I wore an outfit completely by H&M, except for the shoes and tie. I wore a grey vest ($25), a blue textured dot shirt ($45), and a black pair of pants ($20). I accessorized the look with a J. crew silk tie ($45) that just so happens to be the tie I wore to my graduation day in High School. It is a classic golden yellow with a geometric floral pattern on it. The shoes were a pair of cap toe black leather shoes I bought yesterday ($50). I also had a camel colored scarf from Macys ($20) on in the morning because it was chilly. I was excited to break in my new shoes. My destinations included school, the Craft and Folk Art Museum, Brooks Brothers on Rodeo Drive, and a walk with my dog at home in Long Beach. For the first time since the commencement of this dress journal, I finally received a compliment on my outfit. The barista at Starbucks mentioned that he really liked my outfit and took special interest in my tie. I felt confident and slim in this outfit. The vest really does wonders in making my upper body appear smaller than it is! I can relate this to the video shown by Professor Lung on how the beauty and fashion industry drive such a glamorous message of being thin and young and how we strive to achieve such an appearance.

Art 156: CAFAM Visit

Nathalie Miebach is an artist who incorporates all of her passions into every artwork she makes. These passions being music, science, and of course art. The Craft and Folk Art Museum in Los Angeles, California currently holds an exhibition of her work titled “Nathalie Miebach: Changing Waters”. This exhibit is home to artwork she has created focusing on the science of weather and the musical practices of composure and rhythm.
The artworks were all three dimensional and made from some very unconventional materials. Although they included paper, the paper source was printed weather data. This of course, being the science portion of her artwork. The musical compositions accompanied by each artwork was made from the same paper. And the rest of the materials used were raffia baskets and wood. It was very interesting that some were held down by rope as well. The most elaborate artwork in the exhibit was the center artwork, which was surrounded by all of the other works of art. It was called “To Hear An Ocean in a Whisper”. It was inspired by the natural processes of the gulf of Maine. It looks like a giant carnival scene. There’s a Ferris wheel, a swing ride, and a roller coaster present in the a work of art and of course, made from raffia, reed, wood, paper and rope. The artwork has a nice rhythm to it and is sort of a controlled chaos. It is very pleasing to the eye and is kept at a happy mood by supporting primary and bright colors. It was the first thing I saw in the exhibit and was very pleasing to the eye.
Another giant artwork was along the right hand wall from the entrance point of the exhibit. It included many objects including my favorite piece, a blue dragon made from woven raffia and paper. And the best part about this was it looked like a Chinese New Year parade on a wall. It was very exciting and had a contrasting orange dragon facing the blue dragon with a burst of firework in between the two dragons. This specific scene was very long and covered the better of one long wall and the accompanying two walls at each end of the long wall.
This exhibit inspired me through its color and processes. It was really interesting to see the use of reported printed data as a medium for a work of art. The concept of creating such fun and care free scenes of an amusement park or theme park rides from serious data is contrasting in thought. The child like color palette also contrasts the very sophisticated science behind the printed data charts that make up the artwork. I would respond to this exhibit by using similar colors, and perhaps using a scientific process of my own. Perhaps my passion for culinary arts would be science enough to bake, fry, or burn fabric and make a similar color palette would suffice as a project based on inspiration from this particular artist and exhibition.

Art 156: Reading #2

The reading starts off by telling about how a ceramic art instillation was bringing up bad dust from the labor overseas and how this exhibit was closed quickly after it was made. It then goes on explaining how different fiber artists may only have the fact that they are fiber artists in common with one another. Then going further in explaining how certain work done overseas can almost contradict the crafting for a cause movement. This article was mostly about how different activist groups or causes are utilized by groups or fiber artists in an effort to make their political and social statements known. There were so many causes and groups that I had never heard of. One group that really caught me off guard was the “Knit4Choice” group. According to the text this is a pro-choice group. “Several groups that seek to harness wide-spread hobby craft energy include the London knitting group Cast Off, which has sponsored antiwar protests, and the American abortion rights group Knit4Choice” (Wilson, 74). This group caught me off guard because I would have never thought knitting would help the rights of women considering abortions. It’s also interesting to read that there are also pro-life religious groups who knit for anti-abortion causes. “Alongside pro-choice crafters making handmade wombs, there are pro-life knitters inspired by biblical passages about being “knit” in the womb by God” (Wilson, 74). It is also interesting that the passage includes the fact that you can’t assume because people are crafting for a cause, that it is automatically representing or helping a cause that is associated with one side of the political spectrum. I think it would be interesting to hear a political debate strictly amongst political crafters and fiber artists.

Abtextile activist- garage door homes

Above is a link for a video regarding a textile artist and her efforts to house her community with resources available.

499 project 1 stencil

Art 499 Dyes Project #1

The first project in a series of three is the process of painting on textiles. Using dyes as the source of color for my “paints”, I decided to stick with one color, and try different techniques of painting dye on fabric. The first technique came from doing some research on the subject. The source of research came from ofakind.com , a site dedicated to showing how to step-by-step methods of crafting. This particular how-to was based on painting on fabrics. I tried the first technique which required cutting shapes out of hard paper to create stencils. These stencils could be made into almost any shape or pattern. I chose simple geometric shapes as it was my first attempt at painting with dyes using this technique. The second technique I attempted was had painting without a stencil. This proved to be a much more difficult task. I used geometric shapes in this case as well. I repeated some images as well. The next technique was making an actual repeated pattern. I chose to make a maze pattern that simulated bricks, yet didn’t quite connect the lines. This one was probably my favorite of the three, most likely because the outcome was the closest to what I pictured it would look like. Overall, I think I’d prefer free hand to stencils when it comes to painting dye on fabrics.