Week 1 | Personal Development Plan

The overarching theme I’ve decided to base my project on is Organic/ Synthetic. I am very passionate about food and would therefor like to incorporate it into my concept. My recent travels around south east Asia gave me an insight of new food to try, I really loved the open market stalls with stacked up groceries and spices. I’d like to explore macro shots of fruit and vegetables and extract details of them into my drawing. I would like to focus on vibrant colours and bold shapes and lines. I hope to push my skills in printing and laser cutting, and so could potentially combine these medias. Over these next two weeks I will really focus on producing a mass of drawings and visual research that will help me develop into final samples. I see my practice moving towards the installation/ art gallery context as I like to work 3 dimensionally.

After my first tutorial with mark, he gave positive feedback about my ideas within my PDP.
Given that I live just by the curry mile, I am able to easily purchase some exotic fruits to draw from straight away. Throughout my drawing I need to really explore and experiment with shape, scale and colour.

Summer Drawing | Feedback

Over the summer I went travelling around Thailand and Vietnam. I was really intrigued by the difference in culture and the bright colours and patterns everywhere. This is where a lot of my summer drawing was inspired from. My drawing approaches were influenced by the techniques from previous drawing days. This included, overlapping, looking away from the page, macro/micro and abstracting details.

Bridges under construction

Macro leaf drawing

The group feedback from my summer presentation said that this drawing was one of the strongest. They liked the contrast of the red against the black background and were intrigued as to what it was (a macro detail of a leaf). Taking just a section of an object creates a new insight of what you are viewing, and that is what i would like to push forward into the Intentions project. The group suggested I make a viewfinder to use on objects/ plants when doing my drawings to really zoom in on the details.

Gallery Visit | National Gallery

'Coastal Scene' by Théo van Rysselberghe

The exhibition Soundscapes at the National Gallery is where contemporary musicians and producers create a sound piece inspired by a painting from the galleries collection. It was interesting to see how sound was used as a medium in visual art, with my favourite piece by Jamie xx. His composition was inspired by Théo van Rysselberghe’s ‘Coastal Scene’. The dabbling spots and painting techniques were represented by soft and short sounds. The music would intensify in certain areas of the room. If you were close to the painting, you could hear the details and layovers of the music, but the further away you moved, the more unified the sounds were, as if it mirrored the painting. I really like how he explored the use of sound to create an overall atmosphere. I’ve done many exercises, where I draw from music, but this response is the opposite, making me think about how i could change my approach of simple tasks, and therefor creating new and wonderful results.

Artist Focus | Ashley Goldberg

'Chaotic' Art Print

Print

Urban Outfitters Bedding

Ashley Goldberg’s art has a sense of fun and exploration, with her work including paintings, portraiture, illustration and pattern design. The themes within her work consist of narrative, nature and imagination. She uses statement blocks of colours and mark making, which bring in elements of childhood and freedom. Goldberg has collaborated with brands including Urban outfitters and Bath and Bodyworks, creating products such as bedding, homeware, stationary and clothing.

I really like the simple and care free approach Goldberg does in her work. Her drawing is similar to something that i could achieve on a drawing day, such as mark making. It’s influential that something so simple can be transformed into a piece of art or product. I’m interested in how she injects her colour scheme of bold and playful colours into her artwork, without them clashing. Goldberg’s techniques and approach of working inspires me to really push and experiment within my drawing

Gallery Visit | Alexander McQueen

Recently, I visited Alexander McQueen’s exhibition ‘Savage Beauty’ at the Victoria and Albert museum. McQueen is known for creating explorative, Avant-Garde fashion, which pushes the boundaries of the classic silhouette. The curation of his work was like a journey, with each collection/ room having a dramatic theme, and therefor creating a new experience for the viewer. The atmosphere mirrored his runway shows to almost make it feel like it was a theatrical production.

Voss Spring/ Summer 2001 collection

There was such a mass of work to look at, with one of my favourites being this dress, which is heavily encrusted in razor clam shells. The dress itself is very contradicting as it was meant as a wedding dress but is covered in sharp objects, creating a barrier. I really like the simple use of one material and the repetition of the shapes. The exploration of mixed media materials is influential towards my preferred textiles pathway, as McQueen does not just stay within the traditional connotations of fashion and textiles.

‘It was about trying to trap something that wasn’t conventionally beautiful to show that beauty comes from within.’
- Alexander McQueen

Romantic Primitivism Collection

The ‘Romantic Primitivism’ room/ collection had a strong concept, exploring the relationship between predator and prey within tribalism. The walls were covered in bones, highlighting the fashion pieces. Again, McQueen approached this collection by the heavy use of mixed media, using materials such as hair, latex, beads, mud and crocodile heads. The horns on the mannequins introduced a fetish quality.

Plato Atlantis/ 2010 Collection

Plato Atlantis/ 2010 Collection

McQueen’s most recent collection before his death was ‘Plato Atlantis’, which has a strong theme of nature, inspired by Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species (1859). He explored the devolution of the humankind, creating digital engineered prints, and exhibiting them aside a visual piece. Nature in a way is put side by side with technology. I like that the digital printing makes it look very futuristic and modern. The simple use of reflection make it unified and create a kaleidoscopic view. I’d like to explore digital printing more within my practice and i think it would be relatively easily to achieve. I’m also really intrigued but the colours and finishes inspired by fish and reptiles.

It’s amazing to see how much work McQueen created through his career with such a high quality. The presentations of fashion, performance and installation expressed his creativity and his aesthetic point of view. I love that he pushed the confinements of fashion, turning his pieces into beautiful pieces of artwork.