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.