Gallery Visits, Tate and the Walker Art Gallery

                                             Diana Dias-Leão', glass dresses

I took a trip to the Walker Art Gallery and Tate Liverpool over the weekend, (which was nice to have a break from my own work and look at some great artists and designers!) where I found a mixture of unique art works from different aspects of art and design. Which ranged from sculpture, paint, textile and print.

I enjoyed looking at the ceramics at the Walker Art Gallery and seeing how pattern design is applied in that context, though I was really attracted to a collection of glass dresses.

These glass dresses are by artist called Diana Dias-Leão' and deal with the issues of body image. I found these glass dresses very pretty and unique pieces, though I like the concept of using a sharp yet breakable material; which is a good metaphor for describing someone with low self esteem.

At the Tate Gallery was an exhibition called Smoke Signals, by Robert Therrien which had an overwhelmingly large set of table and chairs! Another piece invlolved a towering stack of enormous plates, which had a dizzying effect after walking around them! I liked the parody of such boring and simple everyday objects we use, becoming larger than life and in which defeated their main function and purpose.

The exhibition upstairs of great contemporaries and modern artists, including the likes of the infamous Marcel Duchamp Urinal, Mondrian, Warhol and Bacon.  One of my favourites is The Lobster Telephone Dali, 1936 just because it’s so iconic for its strangeness and witty Chindogu idea, the lobster replacing the telephone speaker which like Therrien could be seen as a Chindogu idea as it lacks its real function and use. I felt thoroughly inspired by the abstract themes and colours in this room and thought how making these abstract textures, prints and patterns could be applied in my own works and onto fabric.

Opposites Attract...

                                Butterfly Wallpaper, Damien Hirst, 1994

                                          Colin Self, Nude, 1971

I took a trip to The Whitworth Art Gallery for some much needed inspiration, although I'm looking at fashion prints I was rather intrigued by some of the old floral wallpaper patterns on display. I really liked the elegance and minute detailing which I thought could just as easily work on fabric for a couture dress or repeated several times on a silk scarf.

There was an exhibition on called, Dark Matters. A collection of artist's works including Paula Rego and Colin Self (top) using tones and textures to reveal darkness and light. This I thought was relevant to my research into my glamour theme. Using black and white photographs and mediums for light and dark effects. It was interesting to look at a different perspective of art and design to gather ideas for a fashion print. The two images are of postcards I picked up in the shop, which I liked and felt fitted in with each of my themes. I have a penchant for colourful, pretty things (!) which is why I choose Damien Hirst’s Butterfly Wallpaper. The symmetrical and kaleidoscopic pattern looks so precise, perfect and immaculate and the various butterfly colours are beautiful. I’ve currently been experimenting with symmetry and colours for my colour theme of my brief. Painting one side of the paper and folding it over (much like the painting activities you would do at Primary School) to create a mirror image effect which is very fun too! From this I have developed a fair few patterns and sometimes I have shuffled the paper around to make the paint drip and create its own travels and tones. Though now, I want to apply this in my heat press printing as it could have a striking effect on sheer , translucent fabrics.

Negotiated Brief

Bright Colours

Old Glamour My Studio Space

I decided to take a different route with my design work and will be focusing on the fashion side of surface pattern design. I've been inspired by bright colours, jewels, paints, insects, florals, Madame Gres dresses, P. Horst and old glamour! My brief is to design a pattern to be printed onto fabric, suited for a runway dress. So far I have collated my drawings, photographs and scans from books/magazines to create two moodboards. One moodboard theme is Old Glamour where I have gone for black and white colours only, to reflect the idea of old fashion and P. Horst's photography. My second moodboard is Bright Colours, which is about fun fashion, bright paints, paint experiments and florals.

My next step is to experiment with silk screen printing and hopefully combine my two themes together to create patterns.