4th-7th March 2024

Materials workshop

What was the process of decision making when selecting a material to work with?

On my previous piece I had been working a lot on paper, creating an intricate drawing of my grandmother. However this week I wanted to create a new drawing on something that isn’t paper. We had a range of material in front of us and I saw this translucent thin kind of fabric. When I held it against the light and sun, there was a a translucent show through the fabric. From discovering this I created some drawing tests on the fabric with Posca pens and with black Indian ink. The black Indian ink blocked all light from coming through the fabric and created a shadow effect. I think this could elevate my work instead of it just being on white paper.

What were the limitations of working with the material? In your opinion did it help/hinder your work?

The fabric was very delicate to draw on. To help with this I found a wooden border of large square size and created almost like a homemade canvas with the material. To put it together I used a staple gun and created tight tension on the fabric. It was almost like a homemade canvas just with a different material. It was sometimes difficult to find the correct tension because the fabric was very thin and delicate.

Is there any material you would like to try next or develop further?

I would like to try and use different colors of fabric and different colors of ink in the same way using a wooden border.

What actions for moving the project forward have emerged from what you have done so far?

I discovered that layering the thin fabric with different designs creates dimension in the design when light falls through. I created another canvas with a different design and placed them on top of each other and placed them front of a window. You could see pieces of both designs on each canvas in layers. It created a stained glass window effect and gave the designs on the fabric dimension.

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