Project 4: Social Sculpture

For this project, I will be building a quilt with sourced images from my community. These images will be related or inspired by feelings of relaxation, comfort or nostalgia.

Since I have barely sewn, my first step is to try and begin to understand how to work with the sewing machine.

During our work hours for class on Feb 15, I will be watching some tutorials. I have also selected and ordered the thread I will be using for the quilt.

Video Tutorial & Chosen Thread

PROMPT:

PROCESS PHOTOS:

ASSEMBLING THE QUILT:

TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION:

This is a machine sewn quilt that consists of twenty-six handmade cyanotype prints, printed on mercerized cotton. The images on this work were sourced from my community, using a prompt that asked contributors to send a photo of the setting where they feel the most comfortable, relaxed or at peace. The backing of this work is made from cotton polyester quilt batting and navy blue linen and it is stitched together with 3 colours of cotton thread. The piece is 13 x 18 x 0.25 inches and would ideally be placed in a home as bedding or a pillowcase. If shown in a gallery it would be presented on a plinth, however, in this type of setting I would like for the piece to appear more aged and worn. Additionally, it would be displayed in a somewhat scrunched or pinched position, giving it a three dimensional and sculptural feeling.

The cyanotypes were made in my home in the bathroom because they require a setting where there is no natural light. The chemicals are mixed by hand and painted onto the fabric, then hung to dry. Once dry, I place a handmade negative in a small black frame with the fabric on top, and then press it inside a contact print frame. Each negative was manually created in photoshop and then printed on transparency paper. I used a UV light to expose them, and then they are then washed and dried. You can see the process below.

'A Miscellany of Prussian Blue Scenery' relates to the rest of my artistic practice since it was created by a traditional photographic printing process and I work predominantly in the realm of photography and printmaking. In the last year, I have really wanted to broaden my horizons and create more structural and material objects that exist differently from a traditional photographic print on paper. Though this piece is thinner than I would have liked, I feel I am beginning to achieve my goal of producing three-dimensional works in which photography remains a key ingredient. I used this project as a way to explore working with fabric. I purposely left the edges raw and made stitches visible to make apparent the process of creating this piece. I have also included a couple of photographic step tests on the quilt in order to make visible some important aspects of the artistic process that may not be obvious otherwise.

Conceptually, there is a lot to be unpacked here. First and foremost, this work fits the prompt of “social sculpture” because inherently a quilt is an object that is activated in its ability to provide comfort and warmth, usually to multiple persons. These objects possess a certain ephemerality because they are typically passed down over generations and heavy usage causes them to lose their structural integrity. For instance, stitches may come loose or discolouration and staining can occur. The visible signs of usage end up adding a lot to the narrative of the piece itself. Another social aspect of this work is that the images were sourced from several different people. Unlike any of my previous works, there was an element of chance because I was unable to curate the visuals. In the end, I could only decide where each image would be placed in the composition.

A compelling (yet not surprising) pattern that came through in the type of imagery I received from participants was that most images have little to no human presence, the majority of the photographs are of the outdoors. This points to the connection that humans feel to nature and its proven ability to reduce mental and physical stress. My hope is that in viewing this work these images trigger nostalgia and memories that allow for the viewer to become transported to their own peaceful place. Furthermore, the colour blue should assist the viewer here because blue is proven in psychology to ignite feelings of calm, tranquility and safety. Finally, these ideas lead us back to the physical form of the work, a blanket, which is an object used as a means to increase and ameliorate our ability to relax.

PROJECT STATEMENT:

FINAL DOCUMENTATION:

WHAT THE NEGATIVES LOOK LIKE!