Site

To start the spring term, we were given a week long project to produce a site specific piece of work within the university campus grounds.

The site I chose was one I know very well from my time at the university. The ginnel is a space to store the rubbish bins for collection and for deliveries to the workshops. I was interested in using the space because I like the colour of the brickwork and the graffiti and moss which has developed over the years. There is also a metal door in the corner which i find intriguing as I am unsure what's behind it.
Because of the nature of the space, I knew I would find inspiration for a piece of work. On this occasion I found two apple trees growing in tubs. As my work is based on decoration I decided to stay along those lines and used the image of the trees in a design for the wall around the metal door in the Ginnel.

I chose to use old newspaper as my material for the wall coverings as it was easily accessable and linked in with the usage of the site. I cut rough strips of newspaper and stuck them to the walls around the door in a tree- like fashion, spreading longer and wider as it grew.

The corner I was working with is not roofed but covered with a mesh, allowing light in. I took full advantage of this and used the mesh to hang apples infront of the paper trees at different levels. This added another dimension to the work and the space. Instead of the piece being flat to the wall it created a 3D element therefore changing the space and the way people move around it.

My final adaptaion of the work was to paint it white. I hadn't orginally planned to do this but felt it would have more affect if it contrasted more with the surroundings. I finally placed the two apple trees infront of the work, creating a barrier and more depth to the piece.

I am happy with the outcome of the work, it has transformed a space which is usually harsh, cold and noisy into a tranquil, fantasy retreat. Decoration in such a space would usually be seen as pointless, but this piece questions the concept. I chose an exterior site rarely seen by the public and which is used primarily for storing rubbish. I think any place can be decorated regardless of where it is or it's uses. Personally I feel calm in that particular site and my work enhances this emotion.

Holden Cafe Exhibition

This piece follows on from the "wallpaper" in the previous exhibition. I liked the layered effect of the tracing paper but thought that if the design was lit it would have a more atmospheric, ethereal quality. It did. I also chose to cut around the images rather than leaving them A3 size. This softened the overall shape of the hanging and combined with the increased movement, gave it an almost ghostly presence. Again I would have preferred to have more of an abundance of photocopies to work with, however time and cost prevented this.
In the future I would like to create a similar design using glass or clear plastic and frosting the image onto each hanging piece.

"Wallpaper"

This is the second piece of work i produced for the half year exhibition. I created it as a replacement for the leaf wallpaper that failed to come together. Personally I feel that this piece was much more successful and has been the starting point for many other ideas and works for the future.
I began by using my strongest wallpaper design as a basis for a wall covering. Initially the plan was to screen print the image onto plain wallpaper and hanging it in the traditional way, however this would not have separated my work from mass produced wallpapers and moves away from what it is i try to achieve in my art work. I then started to layer the image over itself using tracing paper photocopies. This had an entirely different effect, creating depth and distance within, what is essentially a 2D image. Once I applied the photocopies to the wall using pins, they began to stand apart at different levels, obscuring parts of some images while exposing others, as if looking through a rain drenched window. Some of the photocopies came out with dark patches which, at first I wasn't going to use. But after trying them they actually enhanced the depth of the piece. As well as this, I left the bottom of the papers loose which allowed movement as people passed, adding to the atmosphere I intended to create. Had I had more wall space or pehaps an entire room to cover in this way I think the effect would be much greater.

A new way of drawing

I have developed a new style of drawing based on my Anthurium designs for wallpaper. The flower lent itself to being drawn in this way as the leaves and petal are very waxy and smooth as apose to the veiny leaves of roses etc. The style of drawing that I have developed is much more graphic and deffinate than my usual technique. I think it works really well with this particular design and the object I have chosen, however I am not sure I could continue using this technique for my other work as it is quite a slow process and I prefer to work more spontaniously.

Collage

Collage is a medium I have always been interested in as I find it visually stimulating and attractive to look at. Some of my favourite artists in this field are Robert Rauschenberg and Joseph Cornell.
My own collage technique however needs working on. I decided to use my designs for the MOSI DaVinci project to develop my skills. I used paint, various papers (patterned and textured), and found material to create the base of my collage and then worked over it using ink pen, letter transfers, paint and tea. I have created four collages, one for each of my designs. They will be going in my half year exhibition to show my development and also as a part of the food theme.

Spun

As I have been working on a food themed project which i have based around using food as decoration, I began to look at using the food itself as apose to recreating it in drawings.
I decided to look at sugar as a medium to produce an installation. Spun sugar is a highly effective way of decorating desserts and I Aim to produce a decorative piece on a much larger scale. As my work at the moment is looking at pattern and texture in decoration, I would like to create a curtain or hanging from spun sugar. I hope to display this in a window space of an exhibition so that the natural light catches the golden colour of the sugar and highlights the natural and spontanious pattern that the sugar makes as it is spun.
Aswell as the curtain I would also like to make other forms of decoration using spun sugar, such as jewellery, baubles, clothing etc.

Wallpaper- natural pattern

So far, my wallpaper designs have been 2D drawn patterns based on natural objects such as leaves and flowers etc. However, after a group tutorial last week it was suggested to me that I try using the actual objects i have been drawing to create the wallpaper. I took this on board and began designing a wallpaper pattern using fallen leaves as my material. I gathered and separated the leaves into brown and green piles then applied them to the lining paper with adhesive. I chose a geometric layout as I wanted to contradict the material I was using and its natural state. Because the leaves are no longer living, they will begin to brown and dry out and eventually flake away. I do not have a problem with this as it highlights the transient nature of the material, and as the leaves deteriorate, so does the pattern.