Project 10 – Stage 1 A design project

Reviewing my work so far.

This stage is concerned with reviewing samples and techniques done throughout the course with a view to working towards creating a coherent textile piece  My final piece will be based on my theme of Sugar Addiction.  I started exploring this idea in Project 7.

I’m concentrating on sugar consumption.  Today we consume more sugar than ever and my previous posts talk about this.  Sugar is both visible, where we knowingly eat it, and hidden, where it is incorporated into manufactured food products without us being aware of it.  I am especially interested in the latter.  I have in mind the idea to somehow create a sugar processing plant, where plain foodstuffs are fed in one section and enticing sugar laden sweet treats come out at the other end.

Looking through my resources I have identified the following samples which may be of use, spark further ideas or could be developed further.

This pencil drawing reminds me of oil slick curves and colour changes. Perhaps it could be translated into something to resemble a metallic machine surface.

This surface, whilst not the colour I’m looking for, has some interesting texture.  I like the mix of machine and hand stitching bringing forward raised sections.

To the left is some layered appliqué.  Coupled with the  surface (right) I could create individual textural pieces which could then be layered to produce a more three-dimensional processing plant.

Adding cogs:

These two designs both indicate stylised petal shapes.  Going back through my course work I see several places where I have used this type of shape, or similar, repeating and rotating to good effect.  They remind me of cogs, that when multiplied could all interconnect creating the illusion of working machinery.

Here again, I’ve unconsciously followed the same idea but now it starts to look a little more industrial. 

So I borrowed a large rusty cog and am in the process of making prints and drawings of it.

I also like the moulding fabric we did and this sample has some excellent definition which could add some machine ‘cabling’.  At this stage I’m just checking out everything that I’ve done of interest, culling will come later.

Captured washers are also interesting and I see them as a possibility on my machine or even as items to be heavily embellished as my sugared confections further on in the piece. 

This computer generated picture is very like a hard-boiled lollipop on a stick.  I’m keen to use circles as my sugared treats and have lollipops in mind so this has piqued my interest.

Earlier in the year I attended a workshop where I free-machined some felted circles and I feel these could be developed much further.  Again, some work will need to be done to improve them and a lot of thought has to be put into the background and components approaching the machine and then exiting at the other end.

I’m reasonably pleased with the thought process so far and am now working on drawings and further samples.  The shaping of many of these earlier works give me a foundation to work from and the techniques are all going to be considered – and then possibly discarded along the way as my project progresses.

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