Semester Two Fashion Project: Impact
Personal Statement Emma Cusack
For my project I started off with the three words:
Impact, Pierce and Spicy. After having investigated all three words with a
series of swatches and research into the word from studies, artwork and images
the word I was particularly drawn to the ideas for the word impact. I began
brainstorming the ideas for my sculpture and was highly interested in
sculptural works of the artists Anish Kapoor and Cathy de Monchaux. In
Monchaux’s work I was interested mainly in the use of mixed media. It was from
this that I wanted to represent the Impact of explosion through the use of mix
media. I used several form of materials in my sculpture from plaster, which I
enjoyed using immensely in my first semester Movement and Motion project, to
wax, yarn, laytex and various fabrics starting in the centre of the piece to
the outside to represent the explosion through a vast range of materials.
After
completing my sculpture I then physically used my I was sculpture on the stand
and placed it in different positions. I took a lot of photograghs of the
sculpture and I also placed it on the photocopier. This was the most effective
method of documenting it as the colours were the most vibrant. After pulling
shapes I then found it best to work on the stand with the shapes to recreate
the explode theme running throughout, starting in the centre and graduating
into less on the outer parts. After pulling my final shape from drawings on the
croquis I felt my final design really depicted the word impact and the action
to expode. For the execution of my
garment I it was vital to use the key elements which I had used in my
sculpture. I used the leatherette as it was manageable and did not fray. For my
other colours I used poly-cotton and dipped the pieces in wax. Along with the wax I also wanted to use the
yarn and placed it on the white leatherette. To bring all these elements of my
garment I used a combination of thread and heavy purpose glue as some of the
parts were too thick of heavy to sew. Whilst doing the piece the idea of
putting yarn flowing down the back from the neck strap came up in a tutorial
and after doing this I thought it really was very effective.
During
this project I really enjoyed the range of processes and different approaches
that were taken towards it throughout the last number of weeks. One aspect I
really enjoyed the combination of fine art and design throughout the project
and over all I was really happy with the way the garment turned out.
