Assignment 4 - Project 8 - Experimenting with Structures - What Have You Achieved?

Did you enjoy inventing constructed surfaces? Were you surprised at the results? Can you see a connection between your choice of materials and the types of structures you made; for example, regular, irregular, small or large scale? Which samples worked best - can you say why?

I did enjoy creating constructed surfaces. It was interesting to see how two different sheets of paper, for example, when interwoven, would create a much more interesting fabric and how strong images in the original images were altered once woven. What was also interesting was how the pieces looked when viewed from varying distances.

 Depending on the nature of the weave, in some cases (the alternating drips for example), looked nothing like the originals close up, but took on an interesting effect from a distance. The eye filled in the "gaps" created by the interwoven sheet and almost restored the original image, albeit somewhat distorted. This would be an important factor in planning any woven structure of this nature, considering and planning with the viewing distance of the observer in mind.

(Original images)

The reverse of some of the woven fabrics was surprising - often more satisfying than the "right side".
 ("Right side")

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 ("Wrong side")

Working with other materials produced some good, strong textural effects - the contrast between the thick but supple leather and the soft, delicate viscose was exciting and has potential for future development.

I also liked the idea of deconstructing a textile, in this case the hessian, and re-constructing it into a new fabric, yet retaining its overall character. Inspiration for this came in part from the "deserted house" sample I produced in Assignment 3.

(Deserted house)

How accurate were you in matching all the colours in your postcard:
a) With paints?
b) With yarns/other material?

a) I enjoyed the colour-matching exercises and felt that the matching paints to the postcard was a success. It was interesting to see how many colour variants there are within a single image, even one that appears, prima facie, to be a monotone. There are still variations in the blue river and bridge post - not all the blues are blues at all, but some are green-blues, grey-blues, black-blues. I'm keen to continue trying this process with other media, for example, pastel crayons or acrylics.

b) Matching the yarns was harder, mainly due to limitations in my yarn collection, particularly as regards textured yarns. I could either get colour or texture right but not always both! I found working intuitively without any source image was more liberating and allowed me to explore colour and texture in a less constrained way. For a really accurate interpretation of an image I would most likely select appropriate textured yarns/fibres/fabrics in an undyed state and dye these to the colours I need. This worked quite well with the blue bridge postcard where I used my own naturally hand-dyed yarns as there were many subtle variations in the yarns from the dyeing process.

Combining yarns would also be a good way to build the desired colour. When I work with tapestry (sewing) I build up colours using a number of threads of fine crewel wool. This is a successful way of creating tonal variation without jarring colour changes. Presumably I could also combine colours and textures?