Concluision

During this project about the language of art and textiles, I have learnt that  artists such as Louise Bourgeouis and Tracey Emin are prime exampes of what this combination of 'terms' means to me. I think that there are no boundaries between art and design and  we should be able to express our art work in what ever medium we want. For me this means through  print, stitch and a range of different fabrics, therefore I think my work. The work of others such as Shelly Goldsmith and Joanna Chapman don't just  explore the boundaries between fine art and art textiles but explode them.

Is my shoe Art?

On the subject of boundaries, some artists believe that conceptual art is not art. For examples the 

Stuckists believe that only painting can be art and not , for example installation: ' The Stuckists, consists of 20 points starting with "Stuckism is a quest for authenticity". Re modernism, the other well-known manifesto of the movement is a criticism of postmodernism and aims to get back to the true spirit of modernism, to produce art with spiritual value regardless of style, subject matter or medium. In another manifesto they also define themselves as anti-anti-art which is against anti -art and for art.'  - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stuckism

This is a definition of stuckism. Stuckists are basically saying that they are against anti- art and therefore they only want paintings and 'original' art to be art not installation or sculpture or anything else. 

'you can bomb an arts building for the sake of demonstrative art protesting "art": 'oh, just look at my beautiful work of art of collapsed building and debris all over'. Your action will not go unpunished, and rightly so' - http://forums.philosophyforums.com/threads/does-art-have-boundaries-and-limitations-36163.html

I agree partly with this statement  with the fact that if you break the law to create art you should not go unpunished, however if that particular activity or that act of violence is art to them then it is in its own right,not everyone has to agree with them. 

'Is My Shoe Art' - Charles Thompson, Oil on canvas

Art in its own right and should not be defined by the choice of material or technique. I think that the choice of  material whether that be paper and paint or fabrics and stitching should be classed as 'art', and should not restrict artists to only working with one or the other, not both together. Artists like Bourgeois, Emin, and Goldsmith are perfect example of the artists not restricted to language (labels) and both work with textiles in fine art ways. 

However, it could be argued that art has no boundaries in the first place; 'There is no limitation to art because art is interpretations of the artists feelings, and feelings have no limitations.- http://forums.philosophyforums.com/threads/does-art-have-boundaries-and-limitations-36163.html

'there is no limit to art, art is creating , creating is in my eyes an essential part of life'.- http://forums.philosophyforums.com

Iagree with this quotation i do not think that there should be limitation within art, i think that art is unique to the individual who is creating it and should be able to express themselves in what ever way they see fit. 

My Work

I am going to explore the theme of my past and how I felt when I had traumatic experiences. I intend to explore my feelings about three major issues, which happened to me when I was 13. My mum getting breast cancer, my grandma being diagnosed terminally ill and my dad moving to Australia.

The artists that have influenced me are SU Blackwell and her installation:’ Remnants.’ And also Shelly Goldsmith and her installation: ‘Inner Storm’. They have influenced my choices of material and the techniques I am going to use.

I really liked the fact that Goldsmith uses a garment to put her feelings of he inside of the dress to show feelings. I am going to use this idea of feelings on the inside of garments. I am going to pick a garment which I think sums up each issue. and embellish a area of the inside of that garment. I am using garments that share meaning with each trauma in m past which I am exploring. They all carry symbolism of their own both for me personally, and for the viewer of my work. The symbolism becomes apparent in my body of work through the message meaning and emotions it is trying to convey. I will embellish a part of the inside of each garment and add additional  like hessian, calico and cotton. I have used these materials because i will ant to garment to look realistic, however i want the garments to look roughened and as if they have ben though a hard time. Which is reference o be going through a hard time of my life. I am going to draw with the sewing machine and also use images of my mum, grandma and dad, and sew into them and manipulate them, with harsh black thread. I have found that using the harsh blackness of the thread conveys meaning in it self to also show emotion (through artist research with Shelly Goldsmith). 

DAD 

 'When dad moved away' Is a dark denim jean pocket with brown stitching and a grey pocket turned out. I have embellished the pocket with a photograph and sewn on text using a black zig zig machine stitch, words typed in 'times new roman', the text includes words of how I felt at the time of my dad leaving England and moving to Australia, and also work that show how I feel now. This links with Shelly Goldsmith and Tracey Emin as they both show their feelings and emotions though the use of text, stitch and aplique. I have used this way of showing feelings as I think that the words are powerful and also the audience can relate to memories it brings back for them. The dark denim jean pocket is symbolic to me because; my Dad used to wear dark denim jeans, and this is what I remember him like at that time of life, also the day he left, he was wearing dark denim jeans. This memory is made stronger by all aspects of the text, garment, stitch and imagery. 

dad           abandoned          alone               apart      down              empty
Left                    lone              lonesome         outcast          rejected          unattended                     
          cast away      deserted        discarded  dumped      eliminated    empty 

forgotten       given up       neglected       cross             displeased           fuming     

furious               galled           heated         huffy         ill-tempered           offended

outraged          sulky                  amazed            broken up        bummed out             capsized

confused      dragged    frantic   hurt        low    muddle
overturned   shook up   spilled tipped over         toppled  tumbled

unglued               unzipped     upside-down          worried          aching           all torn up

battered       bleeding      bruised               damaged          harmed        pain

miffed            mutilated      nicked   away     resentful            sad

scarred              scraped           scratched             shook              tortured            unhappy

 MAM 

These are Sketchbook pages. 

They refer to when my Mam was diagnosed with breast cancer and I became a carer at the age of 13. I am using inspiration from Shelly Goldsmith 'Inner Storm' and her use of garments imbued with personal meaning. This piece incorporates bras and loaded words that are of great significance to me and my family. The bra is very symbolic to me because of the fact that my Mam went through breast cancer. My mum ahas since then had a reconstruction, but has been left with the scar of having her breast removed, his is daily reminder which she covers up by wearing  bra, which is the feeling I am trying to convey in this piece.  

  cheerless      dejected      despairing       despondent      disconsolate    down 

  dismal            Cancer              Mam             bereaved         bitter         blue

distressed     doleful     down in dumps     downcast          glum         grief-stricken

grieved     heartbroken     heartsick     heavyhearted     hurting      low

low-spirite          sick at heart          somber          sorrowfulv sorry          troubled         

disease          long          illness          malignancy          sickness  tumorbane        

cancer          cross          disaster          evil          ordeal          trouble

 bleak          bleeding          bummed out          cheerless          crestfallen          dejected

depressed          afflicted          depressed          disturbed          grieving          harmed

broken          down          debilitated          diseased          frail

hospitalized          ill,           infected          infirm          invalid          sickly

suffering          under          medication          upset           shocked          horrify          insult

knock out          nauseate          numb          outrage          overcome

overwhelm          warrior           champion          fighter          silenced 

GRANDMA

This piece of my own work is very personal to me it is about when my grandma was diagnosed terminally ill when I was 13 years old.  I have taken inspiration from Shelly Goldsmiths 'Inner Storm' and her use of material with text and stitch, I have also taken memory as inspiration and the combination of particular fabrics, carfeully chosen text and photographs for me at least is both poignant powerful and part of my developing visual language. My grandma used to have a jumper like this, which is why I have chosen this garment. My grandma was a very strong women and a peacemaker, she never argued or showed much anger, only love. This is what inspired me to make this piece about her, as I wanted all of the embellishment to be in the inside, as if my grandma was now showing has she really felt at the time of death. .

grandma         granny          afterlife          darkness          decease
departure               destruction     dying    end ennding exit            expiration          extinction     fatality          finishgrave            heaven           loss           paradise     parting
 passing          passing over           release          ruin          ruination
 silence     sleep              dingy           drab     dull bleak          bleeding  crestfallen          dejected            depressed afflicted               depressed               disturbed     grieving
 harmed          hurt                      injured          oppressed           pained           peeved
persecuted          saddened           unhappy                critical condition
on the critical list          upset                    shocked          horrify                     numb
outrage           overcome           overwhelm          peacemaker           champion 

Yinka Shonibare - ' as artists you make sense of your words through your work. sometimes there are strong political reasons for challenging certain perconceptions but you do that through your practice. ...you might go as far as to say there are issues of class, of kitsch and taste, and the relationship between the artisian and the intellectual... somehow refusing those  establish positions between the artisian and the intellectual...' 

-  (Arttextiles) 2009 

Shonibare's observation supports my view that boundaries are there to be pushed and broken - Tracey Emin, Louise Bourgeious, Shelly Goldsmith and Yinka Shonibare are perfect examples of artists who challenge, push and break. 

symbolism

                 Rozanne Hawskley 

               

Pale Armistice, 1991,  Photograph by Dewi Tannatt Lloyd, Rozanne Hawksley 

Pale Armistice, represents a moving and highly effective transmutation of the green and red wreath of official ceremonial, translating it into something altogether more modest and more tender: substituting the pale shadesos real men's and women's gloves for the regimented fierce colours and shiny surfaces of evergreen folage and faulse poppies. The reality and informality of the gloves in Rozanne Hawskley's sculpture  their tints and textured softens, allows the to serve a perfect analogues for real human hands, emphasis human variety, human corporeality and human touch, in a never ending cycle of comfort. 

Rozanne's  longstanding interest in gloves can be traced back to the hands of her seam stress grandmother, who used then as a over for pin-picked fingers. she recalls being fascinated when taken along to Handley's in Southsea, where her mother purchased gloves, and equally in awe of the contents of the leather shop in London. Therefore this is a symbolic memory in Rozanne's life and she has explored many different ways of working with these symbolism's. 

"Pale Armistice is a triumph of a subversive surrealism, simultaneously bearing delight and gravity; and it is too, a feminist meditation on memorization  not only of those killed in war, but of its damaged and bereaved survivors".

Dr Ruth Richardson 

"This state of war seems un-ending and only in death are we united in an enviable peace".

 Rozanne Hawksley

This compelling installation was inspired by the life experiences of Rozannes grandmother, Alice Hunter, an outworker for one of the naval tailors in Portsmouth, and also the seamstress to whom the title refers. Modified and expanded with each showing, the installation typifies the slow gestation of much of Rozannes work. 

It recounts a sailors life through her piecework on hundreds of collars, and subtly draws on realities of naval life at that time, such as the suture patterns a surgeon would have used to close wounds. The results chart the passage of time and the arc of a sailors life, from the making of his collar to his shroud, and final resting place deep in the ocean. Assembled before the onlooker they form a quiet altar, a contemporary relic, a contemplative shrine to the perils of life at sea, and a celebration of the invisible seamstresses and the sailors who were buried anonymously at sea in the garments they made.  http://www.rozannehawksley.com/page13.htm 

Rozanne Hawksley Wide Sargasso Sea, 1979, the flowers on the wreath were made from melted candle wax and the edging was embroided on an Irish machine. the veil was then distressed.

Wide Sargasso Sea was a book written by Jean Rhys, this book is about Bertha Mason who was the mentally ill women in the attic, of the Novel Jayne Eyre, (Charlotte Bronte, publication date-16th October 1847) . Jean Rhys wrote that this women was born in Jamaica and at this time black people were classed as the lowest of the low in society and should marry a different class or color. She was put in the attic to save her from a metal institution, by Mr Rochester. This book discovers the racial abuse, discrimination and cultural difference Bertha Mason suffered.

Rozanne Hawskley's work relates to work because of the use of symbols and the way that Hawskly uses symbolic garments to convey meaning. In my work I have used Garments which are symbolic to me for each memory I am trying to convey. Within each memory I am trying to convey different emotions, and feelings.

Boundries

I have found that the use of textiles within fine art is becoming more popular with other artists on a particular 'boundary' between practices that conceptual yet textile based. these include; Shelly Goldsmith, and Joanna Chapman.  This work pushes the boundaries of what art and textiles are and opens up the new discussion on the subject. This debate includes a major survey between British artists working with textiles. I believe when naming something we restrict the potential for it to change and evolve. This is why I am enthusiastic about challenging the language of art and textiles. 

Dr Polly Binns - ' Id use the word material but in a much broader sense than cloth' - I agree with this statement i do not like to restrict my work to just using cloth but I do see material as an endless piece to work on.

I now intend to explore the boundaries between art textiles through an indepth analysis of the work of Shelly Goldsmith, Joanna Chapman, Tracey Emin, and Louise Bourgeois . 

   Joanna Chapman / onion (detail) 1999 wax [paper pigment tread (150 x 30 x 80). 

Current work uses textile materials and processes as a metaphor for imagining how psychological states, emotions and memories associated with human fragility and loss can be made visible in cloth. The re-claimed garments are the medium for imagined narratives of flooding, staining and seepage.

I have discovered similarities in terms of theme and medium between my own work and Shelly Goldsmith. in particular, her installation 'no-escape' from six years ago, in which images of flood scenes had been transfer printed onto children's dresses Goldsmith describes the dresses as being 'rescued' from a children's home. Not found in waters, but from being thrown away, as they were considered too old fashioned for the children to wear. Goldsmiths work (as with a number of artists, whose work i admire), touches on memory, emotional longing and loss. Much of her work has been informed by the sense of loss that she has felt at the emigration of members of her family from the UK to Ohio, 25 years ago.

'Inner Storm' - 2010, 100cm x 224cm x 210cm  

Reclaimed wedding dress, woven, 'name' tape, steel, polystyrene, stainless steel pins and silk thread installation 

Shelly Goldsmith's 'Inner Storm' uses text to express her feelings sewn onto the inside of the dress. This is showing that the feelings are on the inside of the dress so they are not let out, for example we keep our feelings on the inside and don't let them out.  I am really enthusiastic about this process of using garments and the 'inside out' theme. 

So why a wedding dress? Why children's dresses? there is a huge part of Goldsmiths work is about symbolism. The symbolism is in the types of dresses that she uses to convey meaning, emotion and message throughout work. The wedding dress and he title of the dress could symbolize Goldsmiths own personal view on marriage. The wedding dress also symbolizes innocence and virginity, this is because of the colour of the white dress. The colour white in it self represent complete and pure, the colour of perfection. The colour meaning of white is purity, innocence, wholeness and completion.

White is the colour of new beginnings, wiping the slate clean, so to speak. It is the blank canvas waiting to be written upon, which is exactly what Goldsmith has done, she has written her thoughts and feelings of storms, and sewn them in harsh black thread. The harshness of the black thread symbolizes her feelings and emotions towards marriage. The fact that Shelly Goldsmith has even related the wedding dress to an 'Inner Storm' could suggest that she thinks a wedding/marriage is like the inside of a storm. 

Primal Scene

There are similarities throughout Emin's and Bourgeois' work, not least that they both use memories from their past to infrom their work. 

For me Emin and Bourgeois both have a shock factor to their work, I was shocked when I first encountered their work as I felt slightly uncomfortable, a bit like I was invading someones privacy. Perhaps their works are shocking because they make the very private very public.
 
Emin's 'Tent' is floor based and is a tight enclosed space; it is very womb like - when crawling into and out of the tent you have go on your hands and knees and this position also increases the womb analogy. Crawling makes it feel almost like we are submissive to Emin's work. It is also 'childlike' to crawl on our knees so when entering Emin's 'tent' it is like we are reverting back to childhood and in to remembering 'all the people Emin has ever slept with'. 

Bourgeois' work is also a tight enclosed space, however this time, this piece is on show not to enter, just to observe. '7 in  bed' involves seven sewn fabric bodies locked together in a bed surrounded by a glass box. This piece reminds me of the womb like state of Emin's tent because of the way the bodies are huddled together in an enclosed space.  Bourgeois' work also is a reminder to the audience of the artist's childhood experiences and in an online evaluation of her work, she talks about Sigmund Freud and his ''Primal Scene'' when the child sees the parents having sex for the first time.
 
This links with Emin's work as both artists evoke similar meanings within their work. The are both playing with language in the titles as Emin's  'everyone i have ever slept with' refers not to 'slept with' in a sexual sense but in a more general sense, including her twin brother (who she shared a womb with), and her childhood teddy bear. 

Emin's and Bourgeois' work both explode the boundaries between Fine art and Art textiles. They both use form to present content. They also both use textile processes and both reveal very personal aspects of their lives -aspects which art allows these two artists to make public for our consideration.

7 in bed ...

Sharing links with the work of Tracey Emin, Louise Bourgeois' piece '7 in bed' (2001) also crosses boundaries between art and craft, art and design. 

This piece uses textiles processes (fabric, stitch) but it is art with a powerful message that is made stronger through the use of its humble fabric medium.