Within this post, I will document my personal progress surrounding experimentation of scale. I will be specific with size as much as possible; so that visualisation and comprehension of scale can be understood.
I began to initially draw from my archive, in particular I focused on the lost scarf.
Why?
The lost scarf, as seen within my collated archive image board, has links and connections which do need to be understood.
Symbolically it is not just a lost piece of clothing, I see the knotted hem, as representing the ties between my grandmother and I, our linked lives, her storytelling as I have previously mentioned and also responsive self penned poetry which conjures up images in my mind, for example this one:
Red Ties
Lines that bind us,
The colour of blood,
A story that’s stood,
The test of memory,
What was once yours,
Is now mine.
We have had so much time,
I promise it’s all kept,
In my mind,
The story told,
Sold,
To me,
In so many ways,
That pathway,
Your pathway,
Defines me,
Underlines me,
Who I am.
I trudge on,
I’ve met my grandmother,
I’ve dealt with the wolves,
A father there to guide me.
When you were once,
What I am now,
You walked the red line,
To become mine,
Time was all it took,
For your vocal prose,
To collide with my hearing.
We have walked the woods,
Held our baskets close,
Scares have come,
Yes in different guises,
We make our own bed.
Thank you,
For giving me your voice,
Yet it is my choice,
Paths collided,
Journeys the same,
Now it is my turn,
To tell the red stain.
Red Ties,
They mind us,
Aline us,
Your memory,
Tucked in,
Imbedded as a duvet.
The words such as ‘path’ and ‘colliding’ remind me of the knotted hem on the scarf; something tied together.
If we look at it in a deeper context, the knotted hem represents our joined life course. Yes there may be “knots” along the way, yet we keep walking the path; our continuous narrative.
Colour choice
The poem mentions red, because of my enduring memories of my grandmother telling me the story of Red Riding Hood.
Technique Choice
Due to her blindness, she was unable to ever read me a book; all vocal and by memory on her part. I wanted to symbolise this fading of sight, thus chose a decolourisation technique. This is something I have touched upon and practiced previously; thus I am developing and polishing a skill I already have.
Hand dyed fabric with Decolourant paste.
Below: Documentation in image form; from my initial drawings to experiments in decolourisation:
Below: Self strung screens, with hand drawn versions of my knotted hem; isolating sections and enlarging them. Left hand screen is 31″ x 19″. Right hand screen is 20″ x 17″. Procion cold water dyes; hand mixed to desired colour. View of outcome piece placed on ironing board: 2m x 2m.
I hope that the above experiment (almost the others which I have not documented here) has opened my eye to variations in size and to move out of one working scale.
Once I have worked with many different size screens, creating “samples”, I will then be qualified to decide if I want to pursue this and if so, how.
At this stage my samples will become more practically based, with vision. In other words I can begin to see what I could use my outcomes for. I.E. Are they purely art for arts sake? Or could they be made into a sample fashion collection? Could the pattern become a digitally altered piece?
Ailish Henderson 512344 BA Textiles: Textiles 2: Contemporary Practice: Curated Learning Log 