Miriam Ward Textiles: November 2012

Friday, 9 November 2012

Illuminating the Present

I enjoyed the experimental knitting workshop in my course particularly and loved how this cast shadows when lit behind a piece of fabric. Having experimented with painting the knitting unsuccessfully I decided to think this through carefully so chose a natural fibre to knit a net, then painted it with Anilinky Colours after wetting the cotton first so that it would take the colour. Although I have been working on a monochrome palette for these samples I felt introduction of a cool colour could be carried by the piece and I think the viridian tone adds to the dated look of the overall finished piece (when used sparingly). I then used the soldering iron to slash the fabric to create gaps that the knitted sample could be viewed through the spaces, and I also think this creates more f a 3D effect on the Nautilus.

Close up of Nautilus with Painted Knitted net illuminated from behind

The section below really was my happy surprise , I didn't want to throw away the sticky backed plastic stencil from the screen printing so I photocopied it and love the mottled effect achieved I then re-photocopied it onto “t-shirt” transfer paper, and ironed it to the screen printed muslin, I think the transfer sits really well on the open weave of the muslin and when illuminated from behind gives a 3D effect as the screen printed elements become visible again.

Illuminating the Present - used screenprinting stencil photocopied onto t-shirt transfer paper

I had been interested in the ways the Nautilus image could be rotated and layered and this led to the below sample. The base fabric is a screen printed image created through rotation of the screen then pulling again. I have then added another piece of muslin over the lurex fabric, and I think the resultant image gives a confused sense of depth. I had considered slashing/burning the fabric on this sample but on reflection feel that the 3D blurry image is a sensible contrast to the other samples.

I had discovered that two layers of the lurex appear to “move” then lit from behind – the light reflected though the fibres moves in different directions. I kept this sample simple by layering the ammonite image with the nautilus image. I think the fact that it is not 100 clear what is behind the nautilus adds a sense of mystery and intrigue to the final sample below.

Screenprinting Experimentation

Following completion of the other “workshops” in this stage of my course I felt I still wanted to revisit screenprinting and perhaps push some of my learnings from that assignment a little further, I really like the idea of printing onto a lighter fabric and then seeing how the image appears after that.

I agonized for a while over which stencil technique to try and whether to print the ammonite or nautilus image – and finally decided to go with both!

I created a sticky backed plastic stencil (appealing to my love of precision….) and worked on the nautilus design. I had photographed the shell in the Manchester Museum in the Turing Exhibition and had been spending some time manipulating the design and creating other images from it. For this section I decided to experiment with a wider range of fabrics than I had in the last assignment, and am really quite pleased with the results – particularly on the muslin. I think the most effective designs from this “batch” of prints are the ones where I have re-positioned the screen and done a second pull over the original pull. As I found in the last assignment I think acetate/sticky backed stencils are in danger of lacking atmosphere and perhaps don’t give a textured image with depth.

Moving onto the vilene stencil I was a little skeptical as to how my image would translate when screen printed – I wondered if it would just end up a dark mess. This experimentation surpassed my expectations and in the end I was over the moon with the resultant prints – particularly in the sparkly synthetic fabric – the way the black ink covered the fabric leaving bright areas exposed I felt was really effective and I can really see the potential for these experiments to lead me to some interesting ideas!.....my brain is already running away with me. I suppose that screen printing will continue to be my nemesis, I don’t “enjoy” the preparation/technique/mess etc, but I LOVE the images I am able to create!