Reclaim, Reuse + Embellish - Textiles and Fashion
My interests and research in embroidered textiles and fashion, and use of reclaimed and recycled textiles in fashion and contemporary design.
Friday 8 October 2010
Issey Miyake Origami-Inspired Eco Fashion Collection
Issey Miyake's new fashion collection is based on origami and regeneration. The statement garments are flat folded pieces until they are pulled up and unfolded, transformed into 3D garments that can be worn in many ways.
Sunday 3 October 2010
Inspirational and useful links...
www.storiesofcloth.com
www.storiesofcloth.blogspot.com/
A project that is about personal memories associated with events such as birth, marriage and death through cloth. Small groups of women Asian, Chinese, English, Jewish, Kosovan, and Somalian descent have told their stories to artist Lesley Sutton who has documented their memories.
http://www.pip-dickens.com/
http://abigaildoan.blogspot.com/
http://www.katefletcher.com/
http://www.textileartscenter.com/
http://seedandsew.com/
'Sustainable, organic clothing doesn’t have to have hemp leaf allover print, or look like burlap. There are good-looking clothing options for the fashion-conscious conscientious consumer, even though we acknowledge that we are far behind the curve. The more we know, the more we see, the more we share, the bigger this eco fashion industry can grow – the better we can feel about the clothes on our backs.'
http://www.lauravickerson.com/
'I am interested in the stuff of life. I often work with discarded objects and materials that were, at one time, a part of everyday experiences. Through changing trends and a general desire to consume these things outlive their usefulness or become obsolete. At times, the materials I employ are ephemeral such as flowers and rose petals. Once they have passed their prime in the garden or at the florists they are transformed into large-scale installations. My recent work incorporates paper garbage in various forms including mail discards, personal notes, product boxes as well as material collected off the street. Garbage is largely the sources by which past civilizations have been studied. Consequently, this material serves as artifacts of our time. In altering or re-presenting it my intention is to set up underlying narratives and to encourage the viewer to reconsider the familiar. These materials serve as signifiers of relationships and connections we have with the world around us and to one another. It is perhaps, these relationships that ultimately lie at the center of my explorations.'
http://www.slowfashion.org/ Good site!
www.storiesofcloth.blogspot.com/
A project that is about personal memories associated with events such as birth, marriage and death through cloth. Small groups of women Asian, Chinese, English, Jewish, Kosovan, and Somalian descent have told their stories to artist Lesley Sutton who has documented their memories.
http://www.pip-dickens.com/
http://abigaildoan.blogspot.com/
http://www.katefletcher.com/
http://www.textileartscenter.com/
http://seedandsew.com/
'Sustainable, organic clothing doesn’t have to have hemp leaf allover print, or look like burlap. There are good-looking clothing options for the fashion-conscious conscientious consumer, even though we acknowledge that we are far behind the curve. The more we know, the more we see, the more we share, the bigger this eco fashion industry can grow – the better we can feel about the clothes on our backs.'
http://www.lauravickerson.com/
'I am interested in the stuff of life. I often work with discarded objects and materials that were, at one time, a part of everyday experiences. Through changing trends and a general desire to consume these things outlive their usefulness or become obsolete. At times, the materials I employ are ephemeral such as flowers and rose petals. Once they have passed their prime in the garden or at the florists they are transformed into large-scale installations. My recent work incorporates paper garbage in various forms including mail discards, personal notes, product boxes as well as material collected off the street. Garbage is largely the sources by which past civilizations have been studied. Consequently, this material serves as artifacts of our time. In altering or re-presenting it my intention is to set up underlying narratives and to encourage the viewer to reconsider the familiar. These materials serve as signifiers of relationships and connections we have with the world around us and to one another. It is perhaps, these relationships that ultimately lie at the center of my explorations.'
http://www.slowfashion.org/ Good site!
Lesley Bricknell
http://www.textilearts.net/artspace/lbricknell.php
http://lesleybricknell.com/
Lesley Bricknell creates pieces that are made from disgarded clothing and paper. She is interested in the fragility of materials and the idea that of time - pieces may be temporary as they are made from delicate materials
'My work evolves from a number of sources. For example working directly with materials that I consider have a certain potency or history. These are frequently worn and discarded fragments torn, unpicked and cut up from pieces of rejected work. I am attracted to fragile and barely held together surfaces and structures. In the idea that a piece of work may only exist for a short time, is recorded and then destroyed. In all these pieces threads are intentionally left uncut and tangled. Edges fray and unravel. Stains are allowed to travel unhindered.'
These are photos of her wedding dress which she buried then dug up after months but still left it outside on a washing line. Later she stained the dress with soot and ink.
http://lesleybricknell.com/
'My work evolves from a number of sources. For example working directly with materials that I consider have a certain potency or history. These are frequently worn and discarded fragments torn, unpicked and cut up from pieces of rejected work. I am attracted to fragile and barely held together surfaces and structures. In the idea that a piece of work may only exist for a short time, is recorded and then destroyed. In all these pieces threads are intentionally left uncut and tangled. Edges fray and unravel. Stains are allowed to travel unhindered.'
These are photos of her wedding dress which she buried then dug up after months but still left it outside on a washing line. Later she stained the dress with soot and ink.
Friday 1 October 2010
slow revolution research
http://makingaslowrevolution.wordpress.com/the-exhibition/
Exhibition
Taking Time: Craft and the Slow Revolution considers how the practice of contemporary craft making embraces similar values and philosophies to those supported by the Slow Movement. Both think through where things are made, by whom and the importance of provenance. They ask us to slow down, perhaps not literally but certainly philosophically, and to reflect on other and perhaps more thoughtful ways of doing things.
Time has an important emphasis in this exhibition.
The works on display may ask questions of notions of time. We hope that within the exhibition space you can forget the seconds, minutes and hours of every day life, not needing to ask ‘how long did it take to make?’ but being encouraged to find a temporary place for time to think through and be absorbed by the work.
The exhibition, which has been curated by the maker Helen Carnac for Craftspace, brings together nineteen international artists, makers and designers whose making practice and work connects with these ideas. In different and sometimes overlapping ways they examine the world through making and in places quietly ask questions about global and local conditions that we find ourselves in today. The exhibition aims to show that contemporary craft practice and its methodologies can generate a modern and timely response to current social debates.
What is the Slow Movement?
“The Slow Movement is a cultural revolution against the notion that faster is always better. The Slow philosophy is not about doing everything at a snail’s pace. It’s about seeking to do everything at the right speed. Savouring the hours and minutes rather than just counting them. Doing everything as well as possible, instead of as fast as possible. It’s about quality over quantity in everything from work to food to parenting.”
Carl HonorĂ©, author of “In Praise of Slow”
In addition to the work by the selected exhibitors there are several projects represented which were undertaken as part of the development of the exhibition. Time in Print was an action research project delivered in partnership with the National Trust. A group of African Caribbean elders from the West Midlands Caribbean Parents and Friends Association, worked with designer Linda Florence at Wightwick Manor in Wolverhampton. The group have produced their own creative responses to the issues surrounding the Slow Movement which are inspired by William Morris and the Arts and Craft Movement. Lengths of the handprinted wallpaper the group made together are on display.
Time has an important emphasis in this exhibition.
The works on display may ask questions of notions of time. We hope that within the exhibition space you can forget the seconds, minutes and hours of every day life, not needing to ask ‘how long did it take to make?’ but being encouraged to find a temporary place for time to think through and be absorbed by the work.
The exhibition, which has been curated by the maker Helen Carnac for Craftspace, brings together nineteen international artists, makers and designers whose making practice and work connects with these ideas. In different and sometimes overlapping ways they examine the world through making and in places quietly ask questions about global and local conditions that we find ourselves in today. The exhibition aims to show that contemporary craft practice and its methodologies can generate a modern and timely response to current social debates.
What is the Slow Movement?
“The Slow Movement is a cultural revolution against the notion that faster is always better. The Slow philosophy is not about doing everything at a snail’s pace. It’s about seeking to do everything at the right speed. Savouring the hours and minutes rather than just counting them. Doing everything as well as possible, instead of as fast as possible. It’s about quality over quantity in everything from work to food to parenting.”
Carl HonorĂ©, author of “In Praise of Slow”
In addition to the work by the selected exhibitors there are several projects represented which were undertaken as part of the development of the exhibition. Time in Print was an action research project delivered in partnership with the National Trust. A group of African Caribbean elders from the West Midlands Caribbean Parents and Friends Association, worked with designer Linda Florence at Wightwick Manor in Wolverhampton. The group have produced their own creative responses to the issues surrounding the Slow Movement which are inspired by William Morris and the Arts and Craft Movement. Lengths of the handprinted wallpaper the group made together are on display.
the slow revolution
http://www.craftspace.co.uk/page.asp?fn=2&id=57
Taking Time: Craft and the Slow Revolution
A touring exhibition from Craftspace curated with Helen Carnac.
The exhibition will open at the Margaret Harvey Gallery, University of Hertfordshire, St Albans, on 13 October - 30 November.
For opening times and directions, please visit www.herts.ac.uk/artsandgalleries
Join the discussion at http://makingaslowrevolution.wordpress.com/
See our new blog at www.takingtime.org
Taking Time: Craft and the Slow Revolution takes as its starting point the issues emerging from the Slow Movement, which developed as a response to our increasingly fast lifestyles and our unsustainable consumer culture. For opening times and directions, please visit www.herts.ac.uk/artsandgalleries
Join the discussion at http://makingaslowrevolution.wordpress.com/
See our new blog at www.takingtime.org
Slowness is also associated with craft skills: skill which is acquired over time, cannot be rushed and is intuitively learned. Many makers today are developing critical positions in response to our consumer behaviour; questioning modes of production through new processes, looking at issues of stewardship and sustainability, as well ascollective making and reworking everyday objects.
Craftspace has collaborated with the maker and academic Helen Carnac to develop the research, exhibition and its related events programme.
On the web
www.takingtime.org has current news about the exhibition and related events.
Discuss the ideas of the exhibition with others including artists and the exhibition curator at www.makingaslowrevolution.wordpress.com
See how two of the artists recorded the progress of their work for the exhibition.
http://www.flickr.com/groups/takingtime-workinprogress/
“The Slow revolution is sweeping through our fast-forward culture as people everywhere discover that decelerating helps them work, play and live better. taking time exhibition shows how craft fits into this Slow culture-quake. It offers a thrilling reminder that every object has a story behind it and that the art of making matters hugely to all of us.”
Carl Honoré, Author of In Praise of SlowArtists.
Gary Breeze - Lettering Sculptor,
Neil Brownsword – Ceramics,
Sonya Clark-Hair, beading,
Rebecca Earley-Upcycling – fashion,
David Gates–Furniture,
Matthew Harris-Textile artist,
Amy Houghton-Animation: video and porcelain,
Sue Lawty–Textiles,
Elizabeth Turrell -Enamel artist,
Judith van den Boom & Gunter Wehmeyer-Slow design in China,
Heidrun Schimmel-Textile artist,
Paul Scott & Ann Linnemann –Ceramics,
Shane Waltener & Cheryl McChesney Jones -Participation & social engagement,
Esther Knobel–Jewellery,
Ken Eastman & Dawn Youll-Ceramics
Thursday 30 September 2010
My space :)
Love my space :) Showing my current project research on distressing fabrics- making them look old, fragility, fashion using lots of embellishment, the passing of time and reuse of old textiles in fashion and craft.
Make do and mend
this was a reallly useful blog a found at
www.vogue.co.uk/blogs/laura-bailey/100302-make-do-and-mend.-.aspx
'I collect spare buttons in clear jam jars and, rather than stash them in a dark cleaning cupboard never to be seen again, keep them on a bookshelf or bedside table next to another, stuffed with assorted pins and needles ready to attack a box packed with remnants of treasured old dresses and other precious scraps. Ribbons and lace are recycled as hair bows or sashes, be they for me or my little girl, or the dressing-up box. Call me old-fashioned but I find it strangely comforting to do a few DIY repairs in bed in front of Newsnight. Granny chic, I know. Luckily, I’m not a perfectionist. A new red button pierces the cuff of an old favourite navy polkadot blouse, patches are mismatched, stitches very much showing. I like it that way. I don’t mind rough edges. Any jobs requiring a semblance of actual skill are left to my trusty neighbourhood dry cleaners, who have rescued many a dress on death’s door. Similarly, my favourite ancient shoes are given a ninth life by Mario, my local legendary cobbler and what seemed like an insane Prada spurge ten years ago justifies itself via annual MOTs for a fiver, thus guaranteeing many miles of life more, be they tripping down a red carpet or on my bike to work…' By Laura Bailey
Im interested in imperfections, expecially when looking for old textiles to use, frayed edges and missing buttons give more character to a piece of fabric of hand-kerchief, I like the thought of the story behind the pieces, why is it so worn in one area or torn?
www.vogue.co.uk/blogs/laura-bailey/100302-make-do-and-mend.-.aspx
'I collect spare buttons in clear jam jars and, rather than stash them in a dark cleaning cupboard never to be seen again, keep them on a bookshelf or bedside table next to another, stuffed with assorted pins and needles ready to attack a box packed with remnants of treasured old dresses and other precious scraps. Ribbons and lace are recycled as hair bows or sashes, be they for me or my little girl, or the dressing-up box. Call me old-fashioned but I find it strangely comforting to do a few DIY repairs in bed in front of Newsnight. Granny chic, I know. Luckily, I’m not a perfectionist. A new red button pierces the cuff of an old favourite navy polkadot blouse, patches are mismatched, stitches very much showing. I like it that way. I don’t mind rough edges. Any jobs requiring a semblance of actual skill are left to my trusty neighbourhood dry cleaners, who have rescued many a dress on death’s door. Similarly, my favourite ancient shoes are given a ninth life by Mario, my local legendary cobbler and what seemed like an insane Prada spurge ten years ago justifies itself via annual MOTs for a fiver, thus guaranteeing many miles of life more, be they tripping down a red carpet or on my bike to work…' By Laura Bailey
Im interested in imperfections, expecially when looking for old textiles to use, frayed edges and missing buttons give more character to a piece of fabric of hand-kerchief, I like the thought of the story behind the pieces, why is it so worn in one area or torn?
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