Unit X - Reflection

This project (although it has not finished completely for the Pop Up groups) I feel has been a completely new challenge for myself. Working in a group for 6 weeks, with a refined outcome in mind has been stressful, exhilarating and rewarding for all of our practices. I feel that analysis within a group and establishing roles has been an intensive learning curve for my own creative practice and work ethic. I have learned so much about myself in terms of how I work through physical experimenting both 2D and 3D to digital manipulation on Photoshop.


The broad nature of this project has enabled us to 'dip our hands in all the pots' so to speak, as I have experimented with structure and scale briefly in a mixed media medium at the beginning, and then through embroidery, print and decisions of what context our work should fit. Digital printing has been exciting, and I am now currently working on the finishings for the bandanas as well as some subtle embroidery applications to add texture to our already vibrant bandanas. It will be exciting next week to see how we work as a group in the final stages of finishing products and curating our pop-up space in the Unit X exhibition.

bandana test

bandana test

From this project I have become much more aware of the importance of finishing and the decisions of colour balance within a collection. Time management is key in any project, solo or collaborative and this is something I must work on to ensure I have time to fix any uncontrollable mishaps which are bound to happen with the nature of life. I am proud of the work I have produced and may potentially develop my work with the bandanas further over the coming months.

Unit X - Refinement - Week 6

digital print cost sheet

This week we finalised our collection of prints by carefully selecting work which we felt created a balanced choice of colour. I have not had the opportunity to digitally print at MMU before, so it has been a learning experience for myself in how the digital print system operates. We spoke to Colin before printing about colour formats and calculating the shrinkage equation we would need for our cotton prints. We initially sent a strip of small test prints of a variety of images to check if RGB or LAB would print best. LAB came back the most vibrant.

4m of digital prints

As we wanted prints at 45cm x 45cm we printed them at 47.75cm width and 46.85cm height. Since we generated Photoshop images at 45cm x 45cm we then had to distort the image slightly so it would shrink to the dimensions we wanted. The prints have come out well, but on 5 of the squares there are unsightly, noticeable red lines from the printer. We asked Collin about this and asked if it was possible for a reprint; he wasn't that helpful about it, but finally agreed to reprint the 5 images just at the cost of the fabric. We are disheartened by this as it was the machines mistake which we are having to pay double for now and still awaiting completion of our 24 bandanas. In future these are factors I will have to consider when printing, and giving myself more time for printing would be wise.

We have started thinking about finishing and as I'm inducted on the over-locker, tried out both the 4 thread and 3 thread machine. The 3 threaded machine finishes much neater which we think looks much more refined. I have been playing about with different coloured threads opposed to just white which I think ultimately make the bandanas pop, and the added colour is more playful and youthful. I hope to try out the baby over-locker next week as I think it will give a much cleaner finish.

overlocked finishing

Unit X - Lines of Enquiry

As a group we were feeling generally confident and excited about our exploration with sellotape as a medium and our development of a concept, but after the studio crit session our choice of material and overall refinement of the space was questioned. Julie thought it was an interesting idea, but fails to work as a finished product/space; any one can play with sellotape, and at this stage in education we need to use Unit X as an opportunity to consolidate and develop our own skills and individual practice. This has resulted in a complete reevaluation of our medium, concept, and what we want to achieve as a refined end goal. During the drop in session with Julie and Mark we discussed possible ‘products’ we could aim our project towards to get some sort of direction. They emphasized the importance of developing our own personal practice, and as I have enjoyed working with embroidery and surface texture in the last unit, Georgia and myself will work towards some form of ‘cloth’ or ‘scarf’ to exhibit within the structure that Daisy and Hannah will produce. Now we have clearer roles I feel like we can progress as a group.

colour sheme

By Week 4 we were still confused about our overall end goal and direction, although a colour scheme and theme of DNA and the human body as a landscape were quite concrete. After an intense studio crit with Julie and Rianna we were challenged to really question our direction and 'get our asses together' so to speak. I suggested to the group we move away from an art/gallery context as none of us have much experience working in that context, and lack the time and process needed to develop a clear meaningful concept and reason for the art. Julie had previously suggested working towards a piece of cloth and we permeated this by deciding to focus on developing a space to exhibit and possibly sell a collection of digitally printed and embroidered bandanas. 

paint experiments

Following the 'hot mess' of the last crit we seemed to have a break through as a group. I am now concentrating on generating graphically interesting images based around the idea of the visceral, organic and permeable. Our previously selected colours of blues, purples, turquoise and pale pinks work really well when used in the idea of the human body landscape. As it is a collaboration of work, Georgia and myself have swapped images with the intention of developing the other's images in our own style and vision, therefore making the prints generates a true collaboration. Im not sure how much of my work I see in the other print ideas, but I feel like I have truly incorporated Georgia's imagery within my work. Extensive experimenting on Photoshop has been a challenge but I feel like Ive really pushed myself to improve my skills in a textiles area I have not been inducted or educated in. I'm enjoying digital manipulation towards print and could be an element which becomes a part of my embroidery/mixed-media practice next year. It was also interesting to see how Georgia and I differ in our approaches, as she works digital then physical, where as I enjoy developing work physically first and then refining on digital. 

This week I have also experimented with some possible embroidery/embellishment ideas. Working firstly on acetate and paint to echo through our groups selected material, and another piece using hessian and paint, the rough textures contrasting with that of the slick acetate.