Unit X - Evaluation

Unit X - Evaluation 

Overall, I have really enjoyed Unit X. I feel that because I already had a project running throughout the Practice brief I was prepared and ready to start Unit X. I feel that I went into the project, already knowing what I want to do with ideas in mind and a concept of what I wanted to complete. This meant that I was prepared for Unit X and had a clear plan of what I was to do throughout the project. I feel that I have expanded my skills and knowledge throughout this Unit. I have spent a lot of time using the laser cutter and feel that this had built up my confidence and skills to use other pieces of equipment. I have enjoyed using the laser cutter and the results it has given me is exactly what I expected and wanted for my samples.

Within my Practice brief, I felt that I was really safe and stayed within my comfort zone, which meant my work was never able to grow and I felt that I never pushed my ideas which meant that I was producing the same work week after week. Throughout this brief, I have tried to be as experimental as possible, pushing each idea as far as I can go. I feel that not only has this helped my degree work, it has also helped me as an artist to take a step back from your work and see it in a different way. I have spent a lot of my time on the laser cutter, something that I had never used before. I think that I have learnt a valuable piece of information, which is something I can take with me into the future. I have become very confident with using this piece of machine and as the brief has continued, my confidence has grown and I think this is evident within my work.

Throughout Unit X, I have begun to experiment with drawing again. I feel that I have learnt a new set of skills when it comes to drawing by using tools that I did not expect to use. I always felt that a drawing had to be a drawing, very precise and final, however throughout my final unit I have become more free and expressive with my drawings, something that I have never done before. This new set of drawing skills has helped me create pieces of artwork that I never thought I would be capable of creating. As an artist, I found that this has been a valuable skill that I will carry forward with me.

By completing a placement along side my University work I have gained first hand experience of the career that I want to carry forward after my studies. I have always wanted to become a teacher or a mentor as my chosen career path. I have completed a placement at Z-Arts and this had helped me vastly. I have gained knowledge and experience from going out into the world and completing a placement. I feel that this is something I would not have gained from studying alone. I understand how workshops are now run for children and how much planning goes into them. This has helped me to push forward and I shall be applying to complete a PGCE after my degree in order to continue down the career path of my choice.

If I had more time for my Unit X brief, I think that I would like to push my circles idea further than I have been able to. I would want to experiment with scale a lot more and perhaps create them as large as possible, rather than working small. I think that my work would look and feel very different if the scale was larger and the line would be more interesting and bold on such a bug scale. I would also like more time to complete another placement within my Unit X brief. I would have liked to have taken on another volunteer role to gain as much experience before I take then next step in my academic career.

Unit X - Circles with Text

Unit X - Samples

I was trying to link my work back to the original idea of travel and movement. I decided to try and incorporate text onto my circles. The text will be data that I have collected throughout the practice brief and continuing into Unit X. The words that I have chosen will be data based on movement, such a street names, weather and towns. I think that this re-enforces my idea of travel. I experimented with engraving the text as just an outline and filled in text. I felt that this gives mea range of different texts to see what works best. I also stuck to my original materials and engraved onto clear Perspex. I did this as I thought the text would be seen more clearly on this rather than on black or white Perspex. I do like the text on the Perspex circles, however, I feel that with the text on the samples, the audience is drawn away from the line and the quality of the movement within my samples. I feel that perhaps my samples look a bit over crowded and that there is too much crammed onto such a small circle. If I had more time, I would like to create a larger sample with text on to see how it would work on a larger scale. I had a hard time trying to photograph my samples, as I had completed them the same day as the blog deadline. I have tried to take a photograph on my phone in order to illustrate what I have been working on. This was because the Perspex was clear, the text was very light and hard to capture without including some form of glare.

Unit X - Drawings

Unit X - Drawings

After a tutorial, it was suggested to me that I need to link my work back together and find a way to create more drawings. I decided to use my samples as tools for drawing. I found this exercise really creative and fun as it was a free way to create drawings without having to draw. I have experimented with different papers and sizes of paper to play with the scale. I found that ink gave me the best marks whilst drawing and it meant that I could drag my samples through the ink. I stayed within my colour scheme and use black and white ink. I found that this was the perfect opportunity to experiment by brining in another colour. I decided to stick to the monochrome scale and introduce tones of grey to my work. This gave my drawings a different element and allowed me to experiment with marbling the ink. I think my drawings have been successful and work really well with the work I have produced so far. I think these drawings work well with my bus movement drawings that inspired my whole project. I like the uncertainty of where the ink is going to move and what pattern its going to create.

Unit X - Vertical Gallery Pitch

Unit X - Vertical Gallery Pitch

I decided to pitch for the vertical gallery as I thought it would not only be a good experience, something I have never had the chance to do before. I feel like as I am a gallery based textile artist rather than a designer, that this would be the perfect opportunity for me. It also would give me the chance to have the oppurtunity to make my work on a larger scale, something again I wouldn’t have the chance to have done on my own. I decided to pitch a small sculpture that I had made, mentioned previously within my blog. I thought that this would be the best idea to pitch as I felt that it was the most appealing to look at of all of the samples that I have created and would work best as a larger stand alone piece. I also felt that the individual flat circles would take too much time, not only to cut but to thread up as the line needed to be stitched through each sample. The sculpture itself gave more to the audience than my flat circle samples as it was almost an illusion for the audience, with the thread through the middle being distorted. I felt that the sculpture would be worth making a larger scale piece of. I was quite nervous throughout the whole presentation, as I had no experience in pitching before for a commission. I feel that overall, I’m glad that I pitched and gained the experience that I wanted and now know what to expect in the future. This has given me valuable experience as an art based textile artist for the future. 

Unit X - Small Sculptures

Unit X - Sampling

This is a small sculpture that I made using off-cuts of my Perspex samples. Each Perspex sample is made from clear Perspex cut into quite small circles. I created this sculpture from playing around and positioning the Perspex off set from each other to create a jagged line, on the outside and with the thread running through the middle. I really like this different approach to other samples that I had been working on. I feel that this is created with all the same ideas I had in mind with my other samples but finished in a different way. This gives me work a different element and a new view on how the audience can see the line. With my other samples, the line was running in and out of the circles, however with this particular sample, the line is running through the sample, but the outside and off-set circles created a new line and a different journey for the audience to think about. I think that it adds another dimension to work as it has another element of how the line and journey can be presented.