(from 2008-09)
AA2A has been an intensely challenging but rewarding project to undertake and has given me a renewed determination to exploit print as a primary working method.
One crucial re-discovery (that in retrospect should have been obvious) was the direct connection between my 2D visual research, print and stitched textiles, resolving an ongoing conflict between numerous log-books which had never been fully exploited and developed while concentrating on structured textiles. It is the recognition that I have two different working methods, and that one doesn’t exclude the other.
My initial proposal was to explore how to physically combine knit, stitch and print into mixed media and multi-layered textile narratives inspired by the Yorkshire Dales knitting traditions.
The final outcomes, Darned Landscapes series, five large-scale discharge to white prints on dyed wool backgrounds, are quite different to my stated aims, the layers of meaning no longer physical but having the main elements of my research coming together in clean, stark, unadorned images. Initial sampling appeared to suggest a way forward for the latter. Layered imagery was successfully sampled onto various surfaces exploring the relationship between landscape textures, recognisable and hidden imagery, and text. Examples of these works are on my web-site: www.webs-of-intrigue.co.uk
Of most interest were the discharge-to-white prints combined with pigment printing, and where the reverse and face sides of hand-dyed, wool fabric were printed in a number of stages one over the other. The process is difficult to control, but is one into which I had hoped to move, with large-scale prints with stitched overlays exploring further colour-discharge and acid-printing processes.
Conspiring against such experimentation was an exhibition deadline. To be in control of these processes required much more time and focused sampling than was available. The decision was to work with what I had learnt thus far.
Lack of time to create in-depth sampling made for unresolved relationships between print and stitched imagery in much of the early sampling, one often conflicting with the other rather than working together. Small-scale images were easier to draw to a successful conclusion than were the larger pieces, with much cutting up and rearranging of surfaces and layers to make them work.
Very late on in the project I realised that the style of mark making used to describe the landscape textures in my initial experiments echoed the linear patterns of the old darned stockings. Already completed small-scale pieces explored walking and mapping the landscape through layered prints and ribbons of stitched text, linking a landscape with the embedded history of the people who lived and worked there.
The decision to make large-scale, single-colour prints came out of necessity to fulfil the looming deadline, and now I see them as the most successful work of the project.
The choice of hand dyed, light-to-dark blue grounds, discharge-printed to white made a perfect vehicle for the big landscapes, conveying a feeling of space and depth. Varying amounts of success with the discharge-to-white process made for a happy accident, in that the amount of colour taken out of the dyed backgrounds meant there was more, or less, contrast between the dyed grounds and the discharge printed images. This reflects the way that a landscape becomes less distinct the further away it is from the viewer.
(from 2008-09)
AA2A has been an intensely challenging but rewarding project to undertake and has given me a renewed determination to exploit print as a primary working method.
One crucial re-discovery (that in retrospect should have been obvious) was the direct connection between my 2D visual research, print and stitched textiles, resolving an ongoing conflict between numerous log-books which had never been fully exploited and developed while concentrating on structured textiles. It is the recognition that I have two different working methods, and that one doesn’t exclude the other.
My initial proposal was to explore how to physically combine knit, stitch and print into mixed media and multi-layered textile narratives inspired by the Yorkshire Dales knitting traditions.
The final outcomes, Darned Landscapes series, five large-scale discharge to white prints on dyed wool backgrounds, are quite different to my stated aims, the layers of meaning no longer physical but having the main elements of my research coming together in clean, stark, unadorned images. Initial sampling appeared to suggest a way forward for the latter. Layered imagery was successfully sampled onto various surfaces exploring the relationship between landscape textures, recognisable and hidden imagery, and text. Examples of these works are on my web-site: www.webs-of-intrigue.co.uk
Of most interest were the discharge-to-white prints combined with pigment printing, and where the reverse and face sides of hand-dyed, wool fabric were printed in a number of stages one over the other. The process is difficult to control, but is one into which I had hoped to move, with large-scale prints with stitched overlays exploring further colour-discharge and acid-printing processes.
Conspiring against such experimentation was an exhibition deadline. To be in control of these processes required much more time and focused sampling than was available. The decision was to work with what I had learnt thus far.
Lack of time to create in-depth sampling made for unresolved relationships between print and stitched imagery in much of the early sampling, one often conflicting with the other rather than working together. Small-scale images were easier to draw to a successful conclusion than were the larger pieces, with much cutting up and rearranging of surfaces and layers to make them work.
Very late on in the project I realised that the style of mark making used to describe the landscape textures in my initial experiments echoed the linear patterns of the old darned stockings. Already completed small-scale pieces explored walking and mapping the landscape through layered prints and ribbons of stitched text, linking a landscape with the embedded history of the people who lived and worked there.
The decision to make large-scale, single-colour prints came out of necessity to fulfil the looming deadline, and now I see them as the most successful work of the project.
The choice of hand dyed, light-to-dark blue grounds, discharge-printed to white made a perfect vehicle for the big landscapes, conveying a feeling of space and depth. Varying amounts of success with the discharge-to-white process made for a happy accident, in that the amount of colour taken out of the dyed backgrounds meant there was more, or less, contrast between the dyed grounds and the discharge printed images. This reflects the way that a landscape becomes less distinct the further away it is from the viewer.
no exhibitions yet...
