Happy Halloween!

There's something so magic and mysterious about Halloween.

Embrace the mystery and have a spooky one!

-Theresa

Learning is a treasure

This week i have been grasping new techniques in the areas of 3D studies and photoshop. I have learned how to create a 3 dimensional structures from simple paper straws. It is a craft of its own, as such a variety of objects can be created from paper straws. Creating these new forms encouraged me to research the topic of paper straws which proved to be quite interesting. I also learned the highly attractive technique of finger knitting. I thought this technique would be useful in my project as it holds similar form to chains, ie locks. Also my reason for learning the paper straw craft was for creating screws which are obviously in the interior of locks.
Heres a few of the outstanding works produced by artists that work with straws:

Brooklyn artist Annie Boyden Varnot creates breathtaking sculptures with cut plastic straws and other common plastic items. Her aim is to study how these inorganic items affect our daily lives, and how we in turn affect them.

I love the movement in her work and find them to be highly attractive. I also adore the way light shines through her pieces creating patterns of light on the surface they are placed on. There is great mobility found in her work.

Scott Jarvie is another artist that works with plastic straws and the like. He produced the Clutch Chair, made of 10,000 drinking straws which is an exploratory piece which is a comment on the effects of our disposable society. He also created  the Clutch Light, which again groups thousands of plastic drinking straws into a new configuration.



During this week i got the chance to attend a photoshop tutorial which attained me greater knowledge in the area. I chose to attend this class as i wanted have a deeper knowledge of creating graphical images. One highly interesting technique i learned in Adobe photoshop was the clone stamp tool which allows you to select an area of an image and drag it. This is great for showing movement and motion.

Overall this week allowed to me to attain a great depth of knowledge in two diverse areas.

-Theresa

The allure of form & texture

Just like movement and motion, form and texture is all around us. It surrounds us and is the make up of our environment. Form and texture enriches our lives; whether its the shapes in nature or the structures in our industrialistion; it is always inspiring us and showing us the true beauty of mother earths work.

Through researching the topic of form and texture I found many artists who weave different texture through their work in a profound manner.

Rowan Mersh is a textile based sculptor who explores form and fuses concept with technique, emphasizing experimentation as the focus of his practice. Mersh’s work is process oriented, the work reveals itself within his practice, as it takes form and reveals shape depending on the emphasis and materials. I absolutely adore his sculptural piece from milan design week 2011. The exhibition to which this sculptural piece belonged to (’fatto a mano for the future") was part of a live design series which invites artists and designers to join a fendi craftsman in creating sculptural objects using discarded materials from the fendi production process, as a conceptual illustration. I love the idea of recycling old materials to create something which has so much more value. Also the history of these discarded materials only adds to the pieces themselves as they hold a story of their own. I think it would be interesting to experiment with cloth in the way that mersh does as it would be highly textured. Also the rustique colours of his sculptural piece reminds me of rust and tarnished items.

Another artist which i find myself highly drawn to is Sandra Backlund. Backlund is a fashion designer known for her handcrafted knitwear with highly sculptural elements. Backlund approaches fashion more like a sculptor than a tailor.  She is pushing the boundaries for knitwear possibilities and achieving innovative wearability more and more . Backlund uses many different types of wools in her knitwear which includes metal yarn that is made of 100% copper, that is both beautiful and wearable. I find it highly fascinating that Backlund is combing sculpture with fashion. When we think about clothing we think of soft materials used in their creation but now Backlund is pushing the limits of textures and form by creating these wearable pieces made of copper. They are highly architectural. The notion of the body being the foundation for a building as such ( sculptural knitwear) is outstanding and I am extremely excited to see what her next ground breaking textures will consist of.

Heres a few other artists that work in texture that you should definetly check out!

• Iris van Herpen
• Comme Des Garcons
• Anna Gunnarsdottir
• Mark Fast

Heres' an outstanding video of movement of texture, by the talented Chris Cunnigham. The advert is produced to advertise the fragrance "Flora" by Gucci.

   

A different approach

So this week i have experimented with different types of materials used in casting. Using the various types of materials helped me to gain an understanding in how replicas are created and which medium is best suited in demonstrating you're concept or idea.

I firstly tried the obvious which was plaster but found this material to be quite fragile and just not what i was looking for. I secondly casted with resin in my two-piece silicone mould. I found this material to be very beautiful and unique as i loved the way the light could glisten through the glass-like key replica. I used a polystyrene based resin which took over 16 hours to dry, which was the only downfall to using this material, as i wanted to produce a mass of keys for my 3D sculpture which I will discuss later on.

So I spoke to the casting technician about producing the large quantity of  keys and he suggested using epoxy resin which is a harder and faster drying resin. Jewelers tend to use this type of resin as it is less likely to break or chip. On the downside epoxy resin is highly toxic and quite expensive so i decided to experiment further with materials that were at hand with less cost.

I discussed other possibile mediums that i could use in creating the replicas with one of my tutors. She suggested using wax which i found really interesting as it is a more natural based material which is exactly what i was looking for. So i jumped on the bandwagon and delved into creating the wax keys.

I found at first that the silicone key casts were not working as i thought they would but through thorough use they casted much better. I firstly casted in plain colourless wax to see the effects of light through this bland tone. I then choose to cast in rust-like colours such as oranges,browns and reds to see there qualities. To make these coloured wax, wax dyes are needed which you can see in one of the right-hand side photographs. I found these colours to work perfectly with my theme and concept as it presents the idea of 'olden but golden', which leads me on to how i finished each key individually with a light coat of gold ink. This really added to the worn effect I was aiming for and I am highly pleased with the resulting replicas. 

  

I finally experimented with creating wax casts with items set into the wax replicas themselve. I placed red berries within the silicone cast and poured the wax in which ultimately froze berries within the key casts.

This trial of setting berries within wax was quite interesting as the replica looked quite richly colourful with a tropical sense.

Overall I thoroughly enjoyed the process of experimenting with all the different materials used in casting. Testing and trying different techniques attained me a great dept of knowledge in producing casts and I feel very confident in this area due to the experimentations. I highly recommend that fellow students give it a go and see the fun and magic of casting!

Dublin Contemporary Trip

So, on Thursday the 13th of October, I had the wonderful privilege of visiting Dublin Contemporary 2011 with fellow first year art and design students of L.S.A.D. This school trip consisted of 6 visits to various different galllerys within the city centre. I found this excursion to be highly insightful as it opened my eyes to new, bold and adventurous ways of dealing with mediums. It also showed me how vast and unique the art world of our time is and that irish art is developing at such a high rate.

The trip started out with a visit to Royal Hibernian Academy. The Academy has five galleries. Three on the first floor are dedicated to curated exhibitions of Irish and international art. There were 4 different exhibitions running during my visit to this beautifully designed gallery. Futures 11, Dublin Contemporary 11 (Lisa Yuskavage and James Coleman), Charles Tyrell and James English RHA. I found each exhibition to be strickingly different and profound in their own way.
I found Futures 11 to be the most visually interesting exhibition out of the 4 as it explored concepts in a highly contemporary manner. Futures 11 is the third in the present series of Futures. The Futures 11, selected by Patrick T. Murphy, Director and Ruth Carroll, Curator are Alan Butler, Vera Klute, Barbara Knezevic, James Merrigan and Shelia Rennick.

The second venue that we visted was Dublin Contemporary Main Exhibition Venue: Earlsfort Terrace. What more can I say than... woooowwww!! This venue blew my mind. Creativity was following through every crack of every ceiling of every room of this building.
Dublin Contemporary 2011’s main exhibition venue is comprised of three spaces within the grounds of the National Concert Hall. As well as occupying 84 rooms and spaces in the stunning neoclassical building adjoining the National Concert Hall, Dublin Contemporary makes uses of the serene Iveagh Gardens and the light-filled Annex, both within the Earlsfort Terrace complex.


 Heres a few photographs of some of my favourite pieces from the exhbition.


I would advise anyone with a slight interest in the arts to check out this outstanding exhibition. Its not something that can be described in words!

The third venue that we paid a visit to was Kevin Kavangh Gallery, located on Chancery Lane, Dublin 8. The current exhibition running in this space is 'An Island from the Day Before' by Diana Copperwhite. Dianna studied Fine Art painting at Limerick School of Art and Design and The National College of Art and Design, Dublin.

The fourth venue that we had the privilege of visiting was Kerlin Gallery, situated on south Anne Street, Dublin 2. The Gallery was established in Dublin, Ireland in 1988 with a programme of national and international contemporary art. The present exhibition running is works by the irish based artist; Sean Sully. Scully is widely regarded as the leading abstract painter of his generation. In this stunning exhibition, Scully introduces the Cut Ground series of paintings which reveal a move away from the all over composition of the Wall of Light series towards structures that are more irregular and unpredictable. I found the intensity of colour in his paintings to be beautifully intense.

The fifth gallery and one of my favourites from the day was Oliver Sears Gallery, situated on Molesworth Street, Dublin 2.
The current and most fascinating exhibition running is called 'Black and White'. This unique exhibition features artists and guest artists from around the world. Works date from the 1950’s to present day and include works on paper, collage, photography, sculpture and painting. There was a vast amount of stunning pieces. I couldnt point out a piece of art in this exhibition that didnt appeal to me. I absoloutely love the way the artists use form and shape through various types of materials and mediums.

The wood sculpture on the right is one piece in particular that i adored. I just like the simplicity of form but the advanced skill needed to produce a piece like this. I also found the paper cutout on the left to be awe-inspiring as it shows the patience that is needed while working with paper. I love the idea of silhouettes and structure.

The last exhibition that we paid visit to was the Douglas Hyde gallery which is situated within the grounds of Trinity College. The current exhibition running in this gallery space is by American based artist Alice Neel. The theme of this exhibition is 'Family'. This exhibition, selected by Jeremy Lewison, includes portraits of Alice Neel's children, grandchildren, parents, and lovers. Oil paintings will be shown in Gallery 1; works on paper will be displayed in Gallery 2. I love how she uses vivid colours to convey emotions and a sense of personality to each portrait. I also admire the style of her painting,ie thick outlines and heavy brushstrokes. I think Alice Neels style is reminiscent of the style of many Spanish artists including Pablo Picasso. Also, many of her outlined paintings reminds me of the work of Gustav Klimt.

Overall, the trip to Dublin really expanded my thoughts on how art is created and the different types of mediums used. It really gave me a taste for adventuring and experimenting with new tools and materials.

Let the inspiration flow!

-Theresa

 

The magic of casting

This week I embarked on a new journey of learning casting techniques, tricks and tips. I explored various ways of making casts which I found highly rewarding and am enjoying the experience of being able to learn these new processes. I started by learning how to make a postive cast in plaster. I chose to cast an old key which belonged to my uncle as it holds great history and meaning.

1. I pressed the key half way into the soft clay and took the key out.
2. I made registration marks with my thumb around the key.
3. I built a wall of clay around the impression of the key so the plaster wouldnt leak out.
4. I mixed my water and plaster solution, sieving the plaster through my hands to make sure there were no lumps.
5. Once the plaster was mixed to the right balance, I poured it into the impression and let it dry for at least 45 minutes.

The photograph above is the resulting piece from this process. I loved how the cast itself looked old and worn. It added a great sense of history to the piece.

The second medium i chose to cast in was silicone. I wanted to make a full 3 dimensional resin cast of the key, so i decided to use silicone as it can be reused over and over again. This would allow me to make as many copies as i want which is necessary for my project which I will discuss later on.

I started the process of casting like I had done before ie,

1.  I pressed the key half way into the soft clay but this time i left the key in the impression without moving it and making sure the clay surrounded the key tightly.
2. I created a wall from a sheet of polstyrene, around the piece so there would be no leaks of silicone.
3. I made registration marks ( this would make it easier to align the final piece.
4. I contacted Pat, the casting technician, to make a silicone mix and discussed the possibilities of how i would make the resin casts.
5. Pat poured the silicone mixture inside the wall of polstyrene, on top of the key.
6. I then left the silicone set over night.

Once the silcone had set, i removed the clay from underneath the key, making sure i did'nt move the key away from the silicone. If the key was too move away from the silcone, there would be less chance of the cast aligning correctly.
I then turned the silcone around so the key was facing up. I then created a clay wall around the silcone so that i could pour another layer of silcone mix on top of the key; making the other half of my silicone cast. I then let the silicone mix set once again overnight.

Once the silicone mixture had set, I was left with a key entrapped between two silicone casts. I separated these cast easily and was left with a beautiful two-piece cast. The registration marks helped me align the casts greatly.



I am currently waiting to produce the resin casts of the key, as my concept for my next piece is almost designed and ready to be shared with the public.


Here's a sneaky peak of what is inspiring my next project in relation to the resin keys :

-Theresa

Wooden mechanism structure

Here is the outcome of my research into the interior of locks and the mechanisms that they are made up of. I produced various designs for the structure's surface but found this design scheme to be the most suitable and appealing. I originally wanted to paint the piece in all jigsaw pieces in blue and grey tones but found it didnt convey the message i wanted to convey which is 'worn and rusted'. I also found that the random selection of jigsaw pieces to be more appealing rather than having the whole pieces covered in them as it looked rather chaotic.

This project helped me attain greater skill in design as i have never worked with wood in this way before. I enjoyed working with wood as a medium but would like to continue experimenting with different sources such as plaster and resin.

"Whatever good things we build end up building us."

Catch a glimpse

While traveling back to Limerick this evening, i decided to experiment with photography techniques. I chose to capture motion by photographing out of focus. I found this techniques to be strangely beautiful and mysterious. The photos on the right and left are just two examples of the images i captured. They have a haunting sense about them which i find quite interesting.

I use a Canon 1000D for photographing if you're curious!

I find poems by Rupert Brooke to be inspiring, so i suggest you read some of his stuff if you're into poetry. One poem im really fond of is "Finding".

While Im giving talking about my inspirations here is an absolutely stunning video and beautiful song by one of my favourite musicians; Jónsi - Kolniður

Check his music out and also his band Sigur Ros; trust me... they will inspire!

















In regards to my wooden sculpture; I'll be updating very shortly with my progression and ideas.

Cao for now

-Theresa