Statement of Practice

As part of the Context 6 module I was required to write a Statement of Practice to accompany my degree show and justify my final collection to both the examiner and my lecturers. Reflecting on a year long, rather complex project in just 2 sides was a challenging task, however I feel I explained the thinking and reasoning behind my project in a professional, appropriate manner. It felt appropriate that I post my statement here also, to allow those interested to gain a deeper understanding of my project:

 Flora and Fauna

The collection ‘Flora and Fauna’ is directly inspired by strong visual and symbolic elements within nature. Initially the project involved studying flora typically found in the countryside or garden and researching their meanings through reading books such as; ‘The Language of Flowers: Symbols and Myths’ and ‘Flower Power: The Meaning of Flowers in Art’ , however as the project developed books such as ‘Nature and its Symbols’ and ‘The Medieval Flower Book’ became essential to developing an in depth understanding of the historical context and deep rooted symbolism of flowers. This led to the project strongly focusing upon medieval art and historically significant flora and fauna.

Both fine art and historical context have played an integral role in the development of the collection and the direction which it has taken. Pre-Raphaelite artists such as Dante Gabriel Rossetti, John Everett Millais and Edward Burne-Jones have influenced my chosen style and themes, inspiring me to embrace their ‘truth to nature’ ethics, and the Religious imagery within their work. The combination of religion/philosophy and nature is both an aesthetic and contextual element within the project. Historically symbolic flora and fauna have been intentionally used to subversively question the contemporary interpretation of ‘Sin’ and ‘Virtue’ and how relevant it is within modern society.

Ecclesiastical art became deeply integrated into the project following visits to the V&A and The Louvre. The gold leaf, deep, aged tones and the often intense use of pattern found within Medieval religious art are obvious influences on the aesthetics of the collection. Halos and intricate dot work became an important visual feature, providing the collection with an archaic, religious edge. Combining religious iconography and nature was an idea derived from medieval manuscripts, and is a unique approach to floral design.

Design inspiration for the collection was drawn from designers such as Jill Stuart, in particular her Autumn/Winter 2011 collection displayed many inspirational elements, including the prolific use of British fauna in a unique fashion and the use of a strong, jewel colour palette.
Alexander McQueen’s Autumn/Winter 2010/2011 collection successfully combines religion, fine art and exquisite gold embellishment and detail within a range of complex garments. This collection has been a significant inspiration during the development of the project, it has strongly influenced the themes, composition and colour palette of a number of the designs.

The colour palette for ‘Flora and Fauna’ is largely derived from traditional stained glass windows, such as those seen in ‘Faith, Hope and Light: The Art of the Stained Glass Window’ and on visits to York Minster and other Christian buildings. The palette reflects the deep, rich tones seen in stained glass and the hint of luminosity which they hold. The aged antique elements are inspired by illuminated medieval manuscripts and heavily gilded ecclesiastical art.

The fabric used has been an essential element of the project. With high quality a major priority, the collection is printed exclusively on silk of varying weights and mixtures. To provide a light weight fabric for scarves and dresses silks such as Habotai and Pongee have been used, while silk cotton and silk viscose sateen provide a slightly heavier alternative, and the devoré fabrics within the collection. All hand printed fabrics have been dyed using Procion MX dyes and use recipes specifically written for the collection.

The collection utilises both digital print and hand methods in an unusual, innovative combination. The high level of detail within the original designs has been maintained through the medium of digital print, while hand processes using illuminating acids, devore and metallic powders have been used to enhance the fabrics produced. These labour intensive methods ensure that the fine art aspect of the project resonates thought out the collection.

As gold leaf and gilding is a strong visual feature in the collection, it was something which was required to look technically accurate, antique and luxurious. After experimentation with metallic foils and pigments, Selectasine metallic powder and binder were chosen as the most visually and texturally successful application of gold. With the ability to be combined at any chosen ratio, Selectacine powders can provide a versatile spectrum of gilding, from subtle to strong, meaning that a variety of effects can be achieved using one product.

Maintaining a high quality finish was an important aspect to consider. Considered embellishment with Miyuki glass beads ensures that quality and a fine finish is achieved across the range of fabrics. Miyuki beads have been specifically chosen as they represent the excellence of innovative Japanese glass bead manufacture, the specialist glazes and size of the beads ensured that they provided complimentary embellishment for the designs.

The rich and elaborate range of fabrics is intended to appeal to a high end fashion market. With large scale bold, impacting prints and exquisite hand details the prints are intended for use on elaborate statement dresses and haute couture with an eccentric twist. The hand rolled silk scarves within the collection are an extravagant approach to an everyday accessory.

The collection is uniform and the varying fabrics successfully complement each other, yet have the varying different appeals. The unique style and approach is recognisable and has achieved successful end results. Further developments to the project could have been further experimentation with scale and the creation of further fabrics using combinations of the same elements already present.

Scarf Designs

'Sanctus Strix' are a range of scarf designs focusing upon Owls, which have been considered a bad omen and a symbol of death throughout art history, and intricate patterns inspired by religious Medieval art. The designs echo repeated themes of my project, such as dot work, gilding and halos.
When initially conceiving the designs, I decided that I wanted the designs to be connected to my elaborate repeat designs, however they are not intended to be worn together as the scarves are large, bold statement pieces.
The designs feature a Barn Owl, as ever expressing my long running obsession with Barn Owls, and a Long Eared Owl, which I find incredibly beautiful, yet sinister and menacing, which I felt was rather fitting due to the symbolism of the imagery.

Now the designs are complete, I intend to screen print them onto silk using a variety of techniques and processes.

Sin Repeat

After compleating my 'Virtue' repeat design I began intensive work on also putting 'Sin' into repeat and manipulating it digitally to ensure that the design is perfect. The final repeat can be seen below. I decided that the design should be simpler than Virtue to create a range of different levels of complexity across my collection, and because I intend to work onto the digital print using metallic powder.

Virtue Repeat

After cleaning the high resolution scan of 'Virtue' and resolving any errors, the next step was to put the design into a prefect repeat unit. This was achieved using the 'Offset' tool in Photoshop. Once in repeat, the background of the design was removed, meaning that the colour, texture and pattern behind 'Virtue' was easily interchangeable. I experimented with painting watercolour sheets and placing those into repeat, to act as a background and add subtle texture to the design, preventing it from becoming flat. The results can be seen below:

'Sin'

Another design which I have been working on, and acts as the opposing design to 'Virtue' is 'Sin'. Naturally I chose to echo specific aesthetic aspects within both designs to unify the collection, such as halos and dotwork, as well as scale. In order to reflect the more sinister subversive message of the design I decided to design the halos black with gold dots, as a twist on the more tradiotional approach. Halos are a fascinating aspect of ecclesiastical art, as they change and develop through time periods, and different artists have very varied approaches to the halo (my personal favourite being Fra Angelico and his many different visual interpretations of the halo).

New Sketchbook

Since Paris I have been using a new sketchbook to collate my ideas, inspiration and designs. I wanted the book to reflect the personal journey and message of my work, so as ever an impacting cover was an important element to consider.

As my work has been focusing on a lavish, ecclesiastical style of illustration since visiting the Louvre, It felt apt to continue this manner.

As within my design work I have focused on the opposing themes of 'Sin' and 'Virtue' or as I have termed it on this occasion; 'Summum Bonum' (supreme good) and 'Summum Malum' (supreme evil).
On either side are quotes from Virgil pondering on aspects of 'good' and 'evil'.
Placing 'Summum Malum' as the focal point (ie the cover) was an intentional decision, as evil is often far more focused on and predominant in the world than good.

The Amaryllis has been used as a symbol of Pride (and therefore categorically a sin) and the white Lily as a symbol of Purity and The Virgin Mary (in accordance with historical art symbolism). I also chose these flowers as they are consistent with my most recent design work.