I want to change my practice slightly I found that over the
past two years on the course I have been very focused on creating decorative
small scale objects and jewellery. Although this is where I feel happiest and
where my practice belongs I felt my ideas and outcomes were becoming a little
stale and too similar, so this year I want to challenge myself whilst still
staying true to myself and my style. My
initial programme of study looks at objects in relation to memory and the power
objects have to evoke certain memories and emotions. Over the summer I
researched this topic in relation to my CP3 essay and the subject area is
fascinating, so it will hopefully be a theme that will keep me engaged and
excited throughout this unit. In this project as well as my work being aesthetically
pleasing I also want the pieces to suggest memories that we can all relate to
in some way and evoke the feelings associated with these memories. I don’t want
my work to raise questions or debate but just quietly contemplate and consider.
My long term ambition is to teach, I want to take what I
have learnt through my time in education and pass that on to others. I have
been doing research in to PGCEs and other routes in to teacher training. I have
also been gaining work experience in a sixth form college one afternoon a week
and I have another placement lined up at a high school. Doing this work
experience has confirmed that I do want to get in to teaching as a career and
has made me believe in myself and my abilities so much more. Whilst on placement I have been talking to
the students and offering help and support where I can and I have found it very
rewarding so far. However this year I want to strengthen my practice and make
sure I feel confidant and comfortable with where it is going before I embark on
to a PGCE course.
Originally it was very hard for me to try and visualise what
I would start to create and experiment with because my chosen theme was a very
abstract concept. I started looking at Victorian mourning jewellery and
investigating how they went about preserving memory and commemorating a loved
one’s as this is an aspect I am interested in. I began to consider containment
and preserving a memory inside something such as a locket. Victorians wanted to
keep mementoes of the person who had passed away; they kept locks of hair and
created elaborate brooches and other wearable’s. Mourning jewellery had a few
different uses, jewellery was made from jet which was expensive so widows who
wore it were wealthy and wearing the jewellery was a sign of status. Also by
wearing the jewellery it was displaying that you hadn’t forgotten your loved
one. This research led me to visit the OPUA (Objects of Personal Use and
Adornment) collection at Manchester’s gallery of costume. The collection was
amazing and full of beautiful and inspiring objects. Whilst at OPUA I started to look at all the
sewing paraphernalia they had, everything was so beautifully made and
preserved. I feel sewing and textiles have a relationship with memory, in a lot
of my readings for the CP3 essay textiles are mentioned in relation to memory.
I have started to experiment with stitching in to metal and I am pleased with
the results, they have a lovely tactile quality.
I have also been experimenting with silhouettes because the
memories I am using are my own I think it would be hard for other people to
relate. So by simplifying photographs and images I am able to give the viewer a
hint of a memory but still keeping it abstract. I have been doing different experiments
with texture using the rolling mill, using different papers for the silhouettes,
also overlaying fabric and stich to create different layers of texture on the
metal. Some have worked well such as the watercolour paper and cartridge paper
samples because they give a stronger silhouette, tracing paper and printing
paper tend to break in the rolling mill and give a weaker image. The silhouette
also relates to Victorian jewellery as they used a lot of silhouettes in there
pieces, portraying loved ones or themselves.
My plans to move my work forward are focusing more on making
things 3D and being able to start resolving some pieces. I’m happy with my
experimentation so far but feel I need to move quicker in order to stay on
track.
No comments:
Post a Comment