Contemporary Collage Week 5 : Decoupage

This week  in Contemporary Collage   we were looking at 'decoupage'  moving from making collage on flat surfaces to decorating an object. Artists we looked at included: Rauschenberg; Matthew Jackson; Peter Blake, Raschid Jackson: Grayson Perry; Kurt Schwitters, Joseph Cornell 

We were asked to bring in something  that didn't mind collaging over, cutting up or adding to. I found this pink card suitcase in the childrens section of a charity shop and  having grand ideas  about  making a Shrine   for Lost Earrings , I also brought in a selection of the small  boxes I'd collected over the years when purchasing earrings. 

Apart from the usual losses/ breakages , I had a purse of  favourite earrings lost/stolen from my rucksack when left in the lobby of a hotel in Athens in 2002 . Some of them I had remade  but others were irreplacable  ( incuding some I'd bought in  Seraphos just days before) .  Since then I only take earrings on holiday that I wouldn't mind losing too much ( I mainly wear dichroic glass ones)

I   even made a  Journal Quilt   containing fabric I printed using scans of  earrings 

and have been meaning to make  an amulet against lost earrings for quite some years ( pictures below are from the excellent book on the subject by Sheila Paine. ) 

I'd gone through magazines cutting out anything to do with jewelry  or red and pink in colour  and had a fine time choosing strange images to stick on

I then found a picture of theatre boxes  from an old V&A members magazine  to  stuck  inside  and  decided to leave it as it was  ( with the addition of a Greek God ). Not so much shrine as suitcase theatre. A bit obvious  but working in 3D is still outside my comfort zone.  

 Unlike Judith  who  with her  architecture/ sculpture  background produced  this amazing structure  ( particularly like the internal space and reflections )

After lunch I turned my attentions to all the little boxes ( reminded by Simon of the boxes of Susan Hiller) 

I used scraps of fabric, sequin waste and foil; bits of braid and ribbon; old stamps :  quirky illustrations from magazines; fold out strips of paper.  As usual time passed too quickly and I'm just staring to explore the possibilities of combining them , stacking them , putting them together.  Some of them  might still end up as miniature pocket shrines.   

 I'll miss the 'bricollage' session next week as I'll  be  in Rydal   but Simon suggested I join in spirit  when I go on walks making  some assemblages  and taking photos of them.

Textile Sensory Overload: Jammers and Weft

It's been quite a while since I've been to any exhibitions so fitting in 2 yesterday afternoon left me with my head buzzing. Having read the review in the Guardian a couple of weeks ago about the Rauschenberg exhibits at the Barbican and Gagosian Gallery, I decided to do a combined trip to Bloomsbury  to  see 'Jammers'  and  the World Eco-Fiber and Textile Art exhibition at the Brunei Gallery, SOAS (thanks Margaret for flagging this up)

 

 

 

First time at the Gagosian - such a large, light space shows the  pieces up to great effect.
I was particularly struck by 'Mirage' with  it's overlapping gauze over a pieced red and yellow background, the gauze have a pieced section on the top, playing with transparency/opacity.
Slubbed silks were used to good effect in 'Gull ' with the touch of red on the rattan pole and the frayed blue-grey silk in 'Pollen'  partially revealed  the yellow silk beneath.
My favourite piece however was 'Vow', a 3D triangle of naturally coloured fabric, sown at the bottom, weighted with a short rattan pole (with that touch of red again)

Than onto WEFT at SOAS - such richness of textile techniques after the sparceness of the Rauschenberg!  I love 'ethnic' textiles and have acquired a variety of pieces from John Gillow over the years: ikat; kantha; indigo (tho' the  Chinese  shibori above, very like a length exhibited, was bought fairly recently from Changs)  This exhibition is an absolute joy in  its variety and quality and it was good to see  contemporary intepretations of traditional forms.

 

The  double faced Suzhou embroidery on organza  by Liang Xuefang of lotus shoots and their relections was stunning -  so graphic its looked like it had been drawn with ink but  composed of tiny stitches. 

Made me think of some paintings I did a while ago of posts and their reflections in Derwent Water and thinking how I might intepret them ( with much  larger stiches, naturally!)

Thinking of the Lake District,  I'm having a creative weekend while Ian is at his parents choosing what to take with me to  NWCQ retreat  next week at Rydal Hall : indigo journal quilts; watercolours and sketchbooks; colourcatchers and scraps for daily(ish) art project and depending on my printer co-operating, inkjet prints of green doors to play around with for Sue Ridgewell challenge at QG AGM. Meanwhile I've made an apple cake and washed my walking socks and thermals!