Every process taken whilst creating my work involves
intricate details. Reflected throughout my drawing and initial inspirations;
the notion of slow, serendipitous routines appeal greatly to my practice, alike
to that of the movement of the shoreline. During my Practice Unit, I worked through a time-consuming,
repetitive process for creating my samples.
I have
taken a real interest in the addition of using the glass workshops to further
push my portfolio individualism. Being given the opportunity to incorporate
such a unique and diverse material into my portfolio, and learn such valuable
skills for a short time of my course, I have been very lucky.
Beginning
Unit X by creating long glass rods through the gathering of hot glass, and
placing the pieces into the kiln to fuse; what I love most about these pieces
is the serendipitous outcome. It is impossible to know exactly what is going to
happen in the firing process; the glass becomes its’ own self and creates
fascinating textures and shapes, alike to the shoreline. I enjoyed creating these pieces,
as this was the process that sparked my interest of creating artwork through
long-winded methodologies. After doing so, I felt that there these
pieces were significant to my work, however felt too clumsy and dangerous
size-wise, to try and incorporate physically into my samples.
Working towards a fashion application context, I am inspired by the sparkles of sequins and beadwork. These qualities are also reflected throughout my primary research- photographs of shimmering lights and reflections upon the water’s edge. I envisage my work placed upon womenswear garments; luxurious fabrics filled with elaborate embellishments and highly skilled techniques. I closely follow the work of fashion designer, Elie Saab; influenced by both his concepts and embroidery technique.
Working towards a fashion application context, I am inspired by the sparkles of sequins and beadwork. These qualities are also reflected throughout my primary research- photographs of shimmering lights and reflections upon the water’s edge. I envisage my work placed upon womenswear garments; luxurious fabrics filled with elaborate embellishments and highly skilled techniques. I closely follow the work of fashion designer, Elie Saab; influenced by both his concepts and embroidery technique.
‘The designer magnifies
femininity working with fine materials, delicate embroideries with outstanding
quality. He builds his fairy-tale creations using simple designs, precious
resources, whilst always maintaining a form of sophistication. Elie Saab
dazzles with his intricate detail and strong sense of beauty.’
How could I use glass to reference my passion of embellishment and the capturing of light? Creating beads. The creation of samples purely with my own materials excites me; also the challenge of creating something that hasn’t been done before- speaking to Dan, the production of bead-making is laborious and tricky to complete, therefore usually the purchasing of beads is a far more sensible idea. The difference being, I have the patience and determination to equally attempt, and create what I want. The process behind the creation of my bugle beading: gathering hot glass from the furnace, glass-blowing and the pulling tubing into extremely thin threads, then cutting individually into beads. I have faced many problems, as initially anticipated, through the fragility of the pieces: easily broken, cutting myself numerous times, the sharpness of edges needing to be sanded down, rods having too large of a surface area to use for beads; it has been worth it.
This process has taken a significant amount of time, spread over the duration of Unit X, however, the time consumed is rewarding, once faced with the final result. This is something that no one else can do, or has been able to learn, therefore, alongside my hand-stamp bought through my drawing and embroidery, giving my portfolio another depth of individualism.
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Left to right: glass-blown threads ready to cut into beads, cutting, finished bugle beads |
