artist statment

at the begining of the 1st year when we were first given the brief, i was looking at how our sense of touch helps us to appreciate our surroundings and how it helps me to "sense my space". however i felt my pieces looked more decorative then trying to describe a particular texture.

since this approach wasnt working as well as i hoped i thougt i'd go in a different direction but stay on the same theme. i enjoyed working with and investigating different textures so i wanted to keep this the main subject of my project. i was looking at natural textures such as tree bark, leaves, the ground etc. but i wasnt getting much enjoyment out of re-creating these textures and they began to look very repetitive and something thats been done a million times before.

i then began to experiment with fabric and combining it with different substances such as liquid latex, clay and wax. i wanted to see how people would interact with them with in a space. i was quite happy with how they turned out but felt that i couldnt go any further.

since ii am from the country but now live in the city, i thought that this would make for a more interesting source of inspiration. i went around the city and took pictures of all the interesting textures and patterns that i could find. the main textures that i could find were rust, plaster peeling off buildings, paint peeling off and gravel/ rough texture.

i began experimenting with plaster. i found this very interesting. in the end i have a collection of fabric ad plaster moulds that represent different aspects of the city. for instance the pattern that i found on the foot paths, wall crumbling to create a flaky texture, peeling plaster off buildinds etc. i didnt want to make my plaster pieces look too obvious as to what they are, as texture involves the sense of touch.

in the end, although the brief was challenging at times i did enjoy doing the project. i wanted to go outside my comfort zone and create pieces that i wouldnt normally do. it took a lot of trial and error but i was quite happy with my finished pieces.