Combining Embroidery

This week I have been trying to pull all the areas of my project together by combining the surface I am developing with my earlier traditional embroidery samples. I have been overlaying my samples with embroidery to tell stories of my memories and create surfaces that appear abstract at first glance.

I have also started to add colour into my samples. I have been keeping the colour pallet simple adding in touches of green to reflect upon the green nature of New Zealand.

I can feel my project coming together now, however I don't feel as though I have arrived at the final outcome yet. I need to carefully consider my choice of materials and how I can combine embroidery with the material experiments I have done in order to create a visual representation of my memories.

Symbolism within Embroidery

As part of my learning agreement, I want to explore how traditional hand embroidery techniques can be used to show contemporary ideas. I have undertaken stitch research to explore how simple decorative stitches can be manipulated into a code that has relevance to the meaning. My earlier samples have also helped me to develop a code, as I was using simple embroidery stitches to respond to the environment.

Bondaweb

This week I have been experimenting further with using Bondaweb. Bondaweb has a glue like surface to it that when applied to silk, creates a flat finish. The effect almost looks like a slice has been taken from the fabric. I have found silk to be the most effective in this technique due to its delicacy and natural fibre content. As the glue heats up, the silk melts into it making a 3D surface appear flat.

Here I have gathered the silk before layering Bondaweb over the top. The effect shows a flat gathered surface with a smooth finish. I want to explore how changes in manipulation of materials can alter the tactile qualities of the surface.

Here I printed a bonded surface over a series of gathers and then pulled the fabric back to its original size. The surface left behind shows which bits were melted leaving a rough and patchy surface. I prefer the smooth surface as it feels like something I can work into. This sample feels disjointed and accidental.

I have begun to use a circle shape for the glue as this creates a negative space around the object where the reaction of glue can be seen and measured. I like how there is an unaltered area of the silk by which the reaction of two materials can be directly seen. Gathering into the circle, creates a surface surrounding it that could also be manipulated.

Next I want to experiment with how I can use this surface in relation to my previous work in the project. I am still interested in coding and Aboriginal works, so I want to explore how I can combine the surface with my concept so far.

Exploring Materials

This week I have been experimenting with materials and how this can inform my embroidery. I have to think carefully about how the materials I use have relevance. Over the past few weeks I have been collecting bark. Bark is used heavily by the Aboriginal tribes in place of canvas, however the bark I have collected isn't large enough to use on its own so I need to find a way to join it. The properties of bark from different trees varies hugely, so it has been a challenge to figure out how I can make the most of this fragile material.

Here I have stitched the pieces together. It is too fragile to continue to sew into as bits of bark kept breaking away. I tried to make the structure 3D, but the fragility did not allow me to do this.

I used Bondaweb to join these strips of Birch together. I was intending on using the smooth side as I liked the quality of the birch. However when I peeled the Bondaweb backing away, a surface of glue was left behind.

This surface looks like frost, capturing the bark and preserving it in time. I want to explore how this reaction can differ across a range of materials. The slice of bark becomes a 2D surface, yet since it has been bound together, it also leaves room for me to explore the 3D. Next week I am going to explore materials further and see how far I can take this technique.