FD Fine Art (Year 2) 2018/19

REMNANTS - The idea behind my work was to translate some of Nottingham’s oldest and strongest buildings and landmarks onto calico fabric, as a combination of 50's, 60's, 70's, 80's surface designs with Ghanaian inspired colours. This was to symbolize their strong status in the 21st Century. I’m commemorating on the fact that these popular figures have still survived all these years and without them, Nottingham wouldn’t have been know for its history and it would be a city that kept on changing constantly throughout society.

I tried many mediums and techniques such as ink, applique, collage, embroidery, image transfer, batik, etc. I enjoyed experimenting with the usual and brand new techniques. It was definitely an experience to challenge myself as an artist and bring my textiles to a new level. It wasn't easy fitting my textiles into a fine art environment, but I did the best I could to find what I could find and build on my hand-making skills as well as try new workshops. This year, I was determined to continue and develop on my textiles specialties to enhance my self-motivation and 

practice.

RAISED BEDS: INTERROGATING THE DOMESTIC - I and 29 other students were commissioned by Ruth Lewis-Jones to put together a group exhibition in association with the Harold Gilman Exhibition. This event took place at the Djanogly Art Gallery at Lakeside Arts.

My visual response towards Harold Gilman's paintings was to make an artistic recreation of my bedroom by creating a mixed media of soft sculptures, textiles and printmaking. Although plans were changed due to hectic schedules, I decided to go with painting instead of printmaking.

The whole concept was to communicate to the audience that there is more to me than how I look to the world. I have the power to express my individuality in a flamboyant and unique fashion because it's my own territory. It's also a place where I can escape into and recharge myself whenever I face the pressures of society. It's almost like opening up my personal diary to the public.

The official preview launch of the ‘Raised Beds’ Exhibition started on Saturday 26th January from 1 – 3 pm at Djanogly Gallery. Plenty of our friends and family and unfamiliar faces came to this spectacular event and they were mesmerized by the outstanding quality of work the group has produced individually. The last day of the exhibition was Sunday 10th February 2019.

BOUNDARIES & TERRITORY - The purpose of my work was to portray my story with visual language (imagery) and text by creating an interpretation of my journey through life so far and eventually ending up all the way to finding myself and knowing what I truly want out of life with strength, character and perseverance. The heart, mind and soul are separated between three pieces of work. This idea was to depict the different perspectives of my behaviour when I start to learn something about myself and the world. I intentionally expressed myself in a more psychological approach in this project, as well as explored deeply on expressionism art. This piece of work was based on my experience with counselling. The words I used for each piece of work are autobiographical and kept subtle. It was a way of getting the audience to connect with the work with their personal life experiences. Also, to get to know me and understand me as a person. This wasn't one of my best projects in the 2nd year, since this was only 4 weeks, but I still kept on improving on my drawing and painting skills by using my own style of composition (inspired by my text). The mediums and materials I've used were water colours, tissue paper, inks, acrylics and pens. If I were to develop these further, I would use my textiles expertise and transform or abstract them into textile art. Basically bringing out the aesthetics of my visual story.

NATURE (FMP) - I picked Nature as my theme for the Final Major Project because it depicts my love and appreciation for flowers and plants. I always admired their beauty and how much it can put an impact in my life, emotionally. I want to remind people that same message when they view my work and walk around urban spaces and feel nothing but goodness, escapism and relaxation. Living in Nottingham made me realise how lucky I am to witness these moments. Nature, in many ways, can improve mental health and enhance climate change.

I started off by collecting primary research from popular urban spaces in Nottingham, such as Wollaton Park, The Arboretum, Victoria Embankment, etc., and drew my selected settings in front of me and from photos.

I then abstracted my drawings into 3 designs and used them as silkscreens to screen print them onto my final fabrics. I was still deciding whether they should be wall hangings or basic fabric lengths. I also dyed the fabrics myself with the substance, brushos. I wanted to make a pillow too but I didn't have enough time on my hands. I could still make one in future projects. During experimentation, I practised on my embroidery skills and eventually took them further into my final outcomes. So far, I have produced 2 surface pattern design fabrics and 1 mini embroidered surface pattern design fabric (originally a sample). It felt like I took a massive risk this year and progressed a lot on my textile making skills, especially coming from a fine art environment. I was committed to my proposal and I managed to do almost everything I wanted to. All of this was good preparation for my next course, Textile Design at the University of Derby. My work was exhibited as part of the End of Year Show 2019 at Nottingham College, with my class and other students from different art & design courses. The preview launch kicked off on Wednesday 19 June 2019.