Lauren Dicioccio

Lauren Dicioccio is another artist that I looked at, she uses hand sewing and hand embroidery to explore the existence and disappearance, of day to day life and the relationships we make to them.  And that’s what I am trying to explore for the main theme “Flaw, imperfection, ideal, and compromise”, I need to find the relationship between these words.

I responded to Lauren by creating my own ketchup stain by different type of fabrics which I stained before hand. By not cutting off the strings and leaving it as it is, it shows the human hand and reflect the human spirit, and thats the perfection. I worked on the canvas because it gives people the perfection feeling about the stain, also is a comparison of having a stain on perfect rectangle canvas.

Jackson Pollock

Jackson Pollock is another artist I looked at. He was well known for his unique style of drip painting. As he struggled with alcoholism for most of his life, I could almost feel how he felt from his work.

Rather than fixing his canvas to an easel, most of his canvases were either set on the floor, or laid out against a wall. From there, he used a style where he would allow the paint to drip from the paint can. Instead of using the traditional paint brush, he would add depth to his images using knives, trowels, or sticks. 

I responded to Jackson’s work by dripping paint on different type of fabrics. The reason why I looked at his work was because it is another way to explore how liquid can drip differently and how to use the drip to express feelings.

Nicholas Hlobo (stitching skills)

“Macaleni Iintozomlambo” is a tea stain on white watercolor paper forms the basis for the drawing.he used intense orange and red stitches and further defined and textured by pale coloured  ribbon stitches around the tea stain.

I created stains on different type of fabrics, to find out the reaction formic kind of fabric. For example I splashed ink on the silk and the ink spreads away quicker then any other fabric. 

Then I responded to Nicholas Hlobo's stitches idea to turn flaw into perfection. 

Jannis Kounellis (untitled)

I saw Jannis Kounellis’s “untitled” at the Tate. It comprises two upright wooden posts that hold four cross bars loosely wrapped with wool. Some of the wool is dyed in delicate of light blue. 

                            

I responded to Jannis Kounellis’s work by dyeing the denim in stripes. I dipped the striped denim into the bleach. The denim turned into beige colour, and some small parts remained light blue. 

Ian Berry (jean collage)

Ian Berry is another artist I looked at:

Ian Berry is famous of his jean collaging work, the detailed portraits and urban landscapes using nothing more than discarded jeans. He cuts, stitches and glue over many weeks, the effect is amazingly detailed images, with a depth and texture that is hard to reproduce in print.

I responded to Ian Berry’s piece by collaging a close up study of a section of the denim. I cut the denim into small pieces and glue using the shades of the fabric to provide contrast and shadow.

How I respond to Lucio Fontana's work

Lucio Fontana:  (Spatial Concept ‘Waiting’ 1960)

Fontana began to cut the canvas, with dramatic perfection. Although some the actions have often been seen as violent, Fontana claimed ‘I have constructed, not destroyed.’

After looking at Lucio’s work, I decided to photocopy some of my drawings which I completed previously, then I created the flaws for each of them, by folding, ripping and cutting, which I framed after. Frame represents perfection, therefore it is a combination of flaw and perfection. 

Also I ripped and cut the denim to create unnatural flaw on the jeans:

  

Tate Morden gallery visit on the 2nd march. It wasn't the first time I’ve been to this gallery, however every time when I visit this gallery, there are always something new to look at and it generates more idea for my art projects. 

“ Flaw, perfection, ideas and imperfection” is the tittle of my project, I’ve started off my project with Denim jeans. Because Denim is such an interesting fabric to look at, it has been one of the most popular fashion in any centuries since 1873. Jeans can be expensive or cheap, branded or unbranded, fashionable or working condition. 

During the trip at Tate Morden, I tried to look at any artist who uses fabric as their main material to their stunning pieces. I looked at Louse Bourgeois’s Ode à la Bièvre piece. Ode à la Bièvre was made by Louise Bourgeois in 2002 as an embroidered book from fragments of cloth. In the book, she expresses through images and text, about the impact the river had on her. 

From the 1990s onward Bourgeois started to incorporate fabrics into her work, using many of the clothes and linens she had kept for decades to create sculptural pieces and fabric drawings. She was working with Mercedes Katz and printer Felix Harlan for this piece with is a fabric lithograph book and abstract homage to the river of her youth.

I like the way how Louise uses simple patterns made by fabric  to express her personal feeling of the river. I am going to experiment with different fabrics with pattern to represent stain, also by using minimum amount of fabric to create my own story of stain.

Nicholas Holbo is another artist I looked at, I was amazed of his sewing pieces. These are some pictures I took of his work at the Tate Modern:

           

I took some close up photos to look at his technique carefully, therefore I can experiment on it after. I love the way how he uses laces / ribbon and found objects to turn the stains to perfection, and thats the perfect example and technique I can refer to my project. 

Nicholas Hlobo weaves, plaits and stitches together disparate materials such as satin ribbon and the inner tubes of car tyres to create intricate and seductively tactile sculptures and drawings. His technique of stitching and weaving which in South Africa are traditionally undertaken by women. 

Manolo Millores's collage is another piece of work I saw at the Tate, he created the collage using materials such as wood, fabric, and sand. His work was characterized by the rough textures of his materials and by his way of tearing, bunching, tying and stitching his materials together.