Alex's FMP- Weather
Weekly Reflections
At the moment I have found that I am interested in the world of fashion and how that may link to the themes of weather, this week I have done research into two different pieces by two different people in the fashion industry. I looked at 'Heavy Weather' for Dazed magazine and 'A Cloud Dress of Heavenly Proportions' by Andreas Kronthaler for Vivienne Westwood. The were very different but linked back to weather and clouds. I enjoyed this research because it really opened my eyes to what fashion on the runway can be and how that can link to the theme. I think that this will potentially inspire and inform me later down the line in this project.
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London reflections- When we went to London we went to The Natural History Museum and The Design Museum to collect vital primary research. I wasn't particularly inspired by the Natural History museum because I couldn't find any objects that really represented weather for me but the glowing red world was really interesting and it was an experience to go through it and come out other side. However, I really enjoyed The Design Museum because of the amount of fashion design stuff going on and the product design that reminded me of my DT GCSE. I think that I was more interested in the second museum because it is more related to my project with the fashion design side of it. There were also some design pieces that were inspired by weather that really got me thinking about alternative ideas.
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Yesterday I studied further into the 2022 spring/summer wedding dress collection by Vivienne Westwood. I also created my first drawn initial ideas, and I experimented with a technique by John Booth that explores collage and through that the creation of the human form. I have also set myself a question to help direct my project- How can the shapes and forms of clouds inform how I can create a wedding dress or that kind of thing? I think that the main thing that I learned from yesterday was how to really experiment with a different collage technique that I haven't tried before. I think that my next move is to just to further play with the forms of clouds and how I can then incorporate that within a wedding dress design.
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This week I have been finishing up all of the things I have to get done before the half term because I will not be able to access Wix when I am off for the holidays. We have had formative feedback and I have acted upon it by completing more research and more repeat pattern drawings. I have done some extra research into pattern design and people who use that in there work for example Bridget Riley. I have also looked into the patterns created by weather fronts and maps. My currant task is to research into paper dresses and alternative materials within the world of fashion. I have also finished off the tweaks on my project proposal. I have been doing some practical work too for example my bigger sketches and my pattern design.
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This week I have made quite a bit of practical work such as a Lino cut, cyanotypes and some rough drawings of alternative ideas. Over the holiday I did some rough digital drawings of some dress ideas but now I have decided that that is a bit ambitious and at the moment I am quilting some rough pieces of fabric that I have designed through techniques such as Lino cuts and cyanotypes. I think I have got a bit mixed with all of my ideas and I just need to really set them in my head and make, make, make!
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This week I have made a lot of practical work, the thing that I have enjoyed making the most are my cyanotypes. I exposed some of them inside and some of them outside and I think that they will have a slightly different effect. The ones that I did outside came out great and they had a really rich colour to them. I also did some sewing on the sewing machine to gain confidence to then quilt all of my squares together later on in the process.
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This week I have been trying to create as much practical work as possible because it is the last scheduled week of practical making. I haven't made an official final piece but I have made a body of work so that I have a variety of work to go from. I am due to do my formative feedback this week so I will make adjustments to my website accordingly.
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This week we will be focusing on our wix work and evaluation of what practical work that we have done. I have had my formative feedback and I have been making changes to my Wix website as I go along. I have also completed my evaluation which is at the bottom of this page, I have answered all of the questions.
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This is the final week of our Final Major Project, and I am excited to get it finished and reduce some of my stress. I will be mainly focusing on responding to feedback and finalising my evaluation. Today I will be going over my website and smoothing over any lumps and bumps that I come across. I will refer to my formative feedback sheet that I have been sent, to make changes and adjustments to my website.
250 word reflections
The intent and purpose of my artwork is to create a textile piece inspired by weather and clouds. What this says about me as an artist is that I am interested in fashion design and repeat pattern design. The questions that I am often asked about my work are "what inspired this piece?", "what materials have you used?", "what techniques and processes have you used?" and "what is the purpose of your artwork?". My target audience is the people that will attend the collage show at the end of the academic year. The reason that I have created this work is that I am embracing the theme of weather and clouds and the different techniques that I can try to make repeat pattern design. My overall vision is to create a weather inspired textile piece. The context of my work is using materials to create repeat patterns and then make that into a quilted piece of my own material. My main source of inspiration is the patterns created by weather fronts. My final piece of work will be displayed at the end of year show where it will be perceived as a piece of textile artwork. The link between this and my other previous projects is the Vivienne Westwood research that I have done, which is the same as some of the work that I have done before on her. My work fits within a contemporary art practice by being a more traditional patterned quilted piece.
Evaluation
I have researched allot of different fashion designers and surface pattern designers, such as Mary quant, Bridget Riley and Vivienne Westwood. ​I have used photographs that I took at The Design Museum (mostly) to inform my steps towards creating and displaying my final project. ​I researched into seaweed dresses and paper dresses to further explore materials techniques and processes. I also did allot of internet research into different fashion designers such as Bridget Riley who uses pattern to create interesting shape and form within clothes and fashion ​The most effective of my research methods were looking into weather maps and weather fronts. My work links back to the theme of weather by being directly inspired by the patterns made by weather fronts and maps. I responded to this theme in a personal way by incorporating my own like for pattern design and collage. ​I considered ethical and social responsibility by researching into more sustainable materials such as seaweed and paper. ​My work communicates the idea that I was intending to get across by displaying the versatility of one pattern design idea into many mixed mediums.
I am not overly pleased with my final body of work and the quality of which they have been completed in, I think that I could improve this by starting over with a clearer game plan. ​If I was to do this again I would probably get a better idea in my head of my final idea and then make it. Everything didn’t go to plan to be honest with you, I managed this by creating new plans and adapting them to fit the time frame and ability. I used my visual language of colour and pattern to imaginatively communicate weather fronts and maps. ​My work is dynamic because I have used such a variety of mixed media in my final body of work, such as fabric, a fabric book and my collages. I have been doing weekly reflections on my ‘evaluation and reflection’ page on wix, they give a description on what I have covered through the week. I think my original plan was great, but it didn’t turn out quite to that plan, so I have adapted it over time to then suit my project. ​I did meat the deadlines for my practical work which meant that it wasn’t to the standard I would of liked it to be at but at least it is done to some extent. ​I have learned that planning and organising doesn’t necessarily mean that it will all go smoothly and to plan. ​I challenged myself by thinking outside of the box and making something with fabric which I have never done before.
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I think that the viewer will see the strong pattern design and then be emersed within the swirls and line art. ​I would like it to be displayed on the wall or on a plinth, I think that I will put my fabric book on a plinth and my collages and pattern swatches hanging on the wall. My operational context for this project is fashion design, textiles and pattern design. ​I think that if I had the opportunity to change or alter my project, I think I would make a stronger plan before I even start to make my project. I think that as a creative practitioner I have become more sound in my decision-making skills and that has helped me to develop as a creative practitioner. ​
My goals as a creative practitioner are to get a pass or maybe even a merit. This project has helped me get closer to passing this course because I have completed this part of it for FMP. Below are the photos of my final body of work.
