co-lab // introduction

The overarching theme of this year's co-lab was Bricolage (do it yourself), with an emphasis on sustainability. We were instructed to collect and catalogue, assemble and construct, document and comment. This was also a unique opportunity to meet and work with our cohorts from other disciplines. Within the workshops, I met mostly architecture students, which makes sense because there are 80 of them. It was interesting to see the various approaches each person from differing backgrounds within the school took to accomplish the task set out before us in each workshop. One of the quotes that stood out to me the most was, "don't be afraid to subvert the brief." I found this very encouraging because I feel that artists are masters of subversion and have been for centuries. From Banksy to Van Gogh to Andy Warhol, artists have always subverted what is considered the norm.

incomplete picture

The first workshop I attended was incomplete picture, hosted by the Fine Arts department. We were introduced to several artists including Ray Yoshida with his piece "Comic Book Specimen Number 14" (left image), and Louise Hopkins with her piece, "Intermediary" (right image). They chose these artists because they both used previously constructed images, which they deconstructed, and made into a whole new piece. This falls into the theme of sustainability because instead of using new materials, they used what they already had to make something new.

We were given a whole newspaper and told to make something new. We were told to alter, fracture, recompose, layer, exaggerate, and imagine. My first step was looking through the pages, seeking inspiration. The first thing that caught my eye was an add that said, "The American Dream." This spoke to me because I am constantly at odds with this idea of what the "American Dream" has become and how it seemingly does not exist anymore. I used this as my jumping off point for the rest of the piece. The idea was to have the idea of the American Dream in the middle, with the reality of what America has become at the bottom, and the great expanse of the world and what it has to offer at the top. This was meant to show the juxtaposition of the idea that American is this dream destination, when in actuality, the world has so much more to offer than what's in front of us and shoved down our throats on a daily basis in the form of social media and film. One of the techniques I used was elements of trash polka, which is one of my favorite styles of tattooing. "Trash Polka® is the brand and a tattoo style developed and invented by artists and tattoo artists Simone Pfaff and Volker Merschky in Germany in the late 1990s. In the early 90’s tattoos were very traditional and the two artists broke with this traditional way of thinking and radically revolutionized the tattoo world. They paved the way for today’s tattoo art scene. Almost all new tattoo styles are based on the spirit of Trash Polka®, which means „no limits“, ANYTHING goes!" (trashpolka.com) During my apprenticeship, I was told it was a bit of an anarchist movement and that always stuck with me. I like the idea of pushing the boundaries of art and the traditional ways that art is perceived, and I hope it was conveyed properly in this piece. Overall, I found this workshop a bit rudimentary, but it obviously had a purpose. I wasn't sure how I would use this in my final project, but I ended up with a collage of sorts, much like I did with this newspaper.

boroboro

This workshop was eye-opening to say the least. I remember reading the description and having absolutely zero clue what to expect. The first thing we were told was that denim is one of the biggest polluting factors in the fashion industry, and then each table of between 4 and 5 students were handed a pair of thrifted blue jeans and had the term "boroboro" explained very briefly to us as a "Japanese technique to mend clothing." We were then shown a short documentary about denim. The original dye for denim was indigo, which comes from a plant, but due to it not being cost effective, indigo was switched out with harsh chemicals that made manufacturing much cheaper. The manufacturing was also exported to third world countries who don't have the proper means to dispose of these chemicals, which then leech into the soil and water supply around the factories that denim is made. On the subject of water, it take anywhere from 10,000 to 20,000 liters to make a single pair of jeans. Top put that into perspective, there is enough water being used on ONE pair of jeans to fill and Olympic sized swimming pool. On top of all the water used, the cotton used to make the fabric requires more pesticides during the growth process than any other plant. And once jeans are made, there is a high chance that they will end up in a landfill where they can take 10+ years to decompose. The fashion industry is incredibly detrimental to the earth, with 87% of materials ending up in landfills. It is also incredibly detrimental to the oceans, with 35% of the microplastics coming from clothing.

Due to this seemingly insurmountable detriment on the environment, more and more people are choosing to shop second hand, repair the clothing they have, or reuse the fabric for something else. The technique used for repair is called sashiko. This is an ancient technique used to. mend and repair worn out or damaged garments. The idea is to enhance the imperfections of a garment while making it stronger and more durable and adding a bit of a design element to it as well. Each sashiko is unique, and there are really no rules as to how it should be done, so each peice is unique!

Within the group we were tasked with disassembling the pair of jeans into as many pieces as we could and documenting it. We noted things like the brand, the color, how many pockets it had, and of there was any wear an tear. The most notable thing is that there was little to no wear and tear, maybe a little bit of fraying around the bottom, but not nearly enough to be considered unwearable. The whole disassembly took from around 10:45am to 12:10pm with no breaks. The jeans ended up in around 15 different pieces. We were then instructed how to do the sashiko stitches and chose a piece of the jeans to use it on. I chose the back pocket along with some recycled fabric to create something new. This is where the idea for my final project really started to bloom.

ideas & research

In between the co-lab workshops, we also had an Axidraw workshop within the studio. We discussed the function of the Axidraw, more commonly known as a plotter. Although usually used for architecture and technical drawing, the Axidraw has been employed in other, more traditionally artistic ways. We were told of a few artists who use this medium and shown examples. Matt DesLaurier was my particular favorite, using the Axidraw as well as other mediums such as screen printing and painting. I really liked the intricate ebbs and swirls of his pieces, which reminded me of so many organic things including topographical maps and the inside of geodes. Seeing his work made something click into place in my brain. I've always been a fan of the organic so to be able to see something like his work was exactly the inspiration I needed. In the future, I would love to take one of his pieces and make something like my final project or collaborate with him in some way. Despite not being as influential, I still really enjoyed the work of Tyler Hobbs, who also had a very organic feel to his pieces, and Jessica In, who built her own Axidraw. Can't get much cooler than that!

The influence of these artists, combined with what I had learned in the workshops, led me to the final decision of using recycled materials in my project along with what became an embroidery technique as opposed to a patching technique. I did some searching for artists who used these in their pieces and found there are actually a fair few. Gillian had suggested looking into the work of Richard Mcvetis and Celia Pim. I particularly liked the intricate details of Mcvetis's work, with each stitch being meticulously placed to create a unique pattern. Pim's work was very similar to what we learned in Boroboro; she took something that someone has discarded after being very well used and worn, and patches it up to create something new. I like that she loves the unloved.

I continued my research by simply Googling artists that used this media. In my research, I discovered that the technique I wanted to use was called "hand embroidery," which led me down a more refined rabbit hole. In my searching, I stumbled upon the School of Stitches Textiles, located in Lancashire, England. Back in 2018, they had posted an article titled, "Hand Embroidery Artists You HAVE to Follow." Scanning through, some of the artists no longer have relevant social media or website platforms, but I did manage to find a few that really spoke to me. Joystitch was the first. I liked their out of the box thinking and execution, along with their use of other materials than plain white fabric.

The next major influence was Zwia Lipkin. She created a series called "Textile Poems" in which she used strips of fabric to to reflect a mood or experience she had. She uses only recycled fabrics to help in her own way with sustainability, "Environmental sustainability is very important to me. In my own lifetime plastic, the most amazing material ever invented by humans, became one of our planet’s greatest threats. Our so-called recycling system turned out to be a mirage. Climate is changing, glaciers are melting, the world is filling with our trash, and the greatest mass-extinction is underway. Our Earth is facing an ecological disaster, much of it as a result of human activity. I believe that each and every one of us should do what we can to slow the damage. In my daily life I routinely conserve, recycle and compost. Preventing useful items from going into the landfill has therefore been a strong motivation in my work as well. I’m committed to using only upcycled fabrics for my art. In this I am privileged to be following a long line of artists, starting with Dada Movement artists such as Kurt Schwitters, who have been breathing new life into discarded objects. I not only repurpose, upcycle, and reuse fabrics, but also try to pursue a zero-waste policy in my studio. I regularly attempt to find use even for the smallest scrap. This is my modest contribution to the wellness of our planet. I try to help save our world, one piece of fabric at a time" (Zwia Lipkin). This was something that was driven home to us during the Co-Lab brief, and her pieces resonated with me, so I knew I had to use recycled fabrics in my piece as well.

Lastly, I found another article written by SST called "10 Textile Artists Inspired by the Ocean," where I found artist Sandra Meech. I partciluarly liked her pieces from her "Meltdown" and "Arctic Expression" series. What struck me most about them was her use of multiple medias, including photographs, textiles, and stitching. Although she doesn't explicitly say she uses recycled materials, it was more the use of the materials and how she includes all of the elements in a harmonious way that stood out. There was also something about her work that reminded me very much of Matt Deslaurier's pieces, with the swirls and topographical look.

In the Axidraw workshop, I got to use my wonderful dog, Ares, as an example piece. After seeing the outline on paper, I realized – relating again back to tattooing – that this was very much like the stencils I used to create tattoos. The idea factory continued to churn. How could I combine all of these elements into something cohesive? Taking into consideration all that I had learned over the two weeks prior to decision time, I really liked this idea of combining the analog with the digital. Unfortunately, as handsome as he is, Ares did not make the final design cut. Instead I went with something a little more simplistic, but still with a lot of personal meaning. I spent several hours taking images into Illustrator and lining them out. I did a few images of my motorcycle, dogs, etc, and finally found this photo I'd taken of a hotel room number. There was enough intricacy in the decoration around the number, but not too much that it overwhelmed the image. The next step was putting it into Illustrator, getting the outline, and putting it in Inkscape to then be printed on the Axidraw. After a few "oops" moments, and lessons learned about the proper way to save an image, I finally got the outline I wanted.

the project

I don't think I truly understood what I was in for over the week and a half it took to complete my project. Labor intensive is not even the right word.

After deciding on an image and finding the right materials to use to get the best final result, i landed on fabric and fabric pen, an apparent first for the Axidraw. I wouldn't be me if I didn't push the envelope or be the first in something. As a little side anecdote, I took a digital design course during my master's program in 2010, and was very much against digital art at the time. So, for an assignment where we were meant to use Photoshop to create out own logo, I hand drew mine and then scanned it in. My tutor said, "I've been doing this for 10 years and never have I had someone be so defiant against technology." Although this was not meant to be a compliment, I took it as my own personal win for subverting the brief. In the world of firsts, I opened the very first tattoo studio in the town that I work. This town was founded in the 1600s, so to be the first anything is pretty impressive.

Once I decided on an image, I ran a few test pieces to use as practice. These were purely to get the sizing correct. The first one I printed was far too small for the idea I had envisioned. The second was better, but still not large enough. However, it was large enough to use as a learning piece.

The weekend after I decided what my final was going to be, I sat and looked through all the artists I had researched, looked at images on Pinterest,

and even just simple Googled "textile

and embroidery art." I found styles that I liked and wanted to emulate in my piece. As mentioned above, I wanted to use organic shapes. I loved the combination of textile, beading, and embroidery. Beading, I knew. Embroidery, I did not. So, I spent the better part of the weekend watching tutorials and teaching myself the different stitches. I had it in my mind that embroidery was a lot of complex stitches, but in actuality its a lot of simple stitches...A LOT of stitches. My first attempts weren't exactly pretty, but considering I had never embroidered a day in my life, it was to be expected. I had originally intended to add the fabric into the numbers themselves, but ended up with a larger piece than I expected. This small practice piece is about a quarter of the size of the final piece, so the fabric fit well.

Once I figured everything out, it was time to create the final outline at a larger size. Much like the Inkscape debacle, I had a couple trial and errors before finally getting the result I was looking for. The first "oops" was that the pen was not placed low enough in the holder, so I got partial lines. The next was that I hadn't cycled the pen up and down, so it just stayed down, creating these really interesting process lines. It was actually kind of neat to be able to see the path of the pen, the inconstancy of it, which created a piece of art in itself that ended up becoming a part of the final display. As Bob Ross says, "happy accidents."

Once I had the outline sorted, it was time to gather the supplies and get working. The photographs below show the project every step of the way, from gathering the supplies, to drawing out the designs within the numbers, to placing all the fabric, and so on. As much as I would have like to use 100% sustainably sourced materials, I did order new embroidery floss, needles, and canvas. I did use recycled fabric scraps from two small businesses that are listed on Amazon, so I was happy that I at least used recycled materials and supported small business at the same time.

As far as materials, I used embroidery floss, beads, needles, thread, cotton fabric, recycles Sari fabric, recycled patterned fabric, fabric pens, fabric glue, and a canvas. When assembling it all, I started with a small embroidery hoop, which was perfect for doing the numbers, but once beading was involved it became difficult to keep the ring closed. I ended up switching to a large, rectangle shaped hoop once I got into the details. Once the main piece (the numbers and flourishes) I attached it all to a canvas with fabric glue. I was going to just keep the middle piece as it was, but I also liked the idea of expanding. Truthfully, I didn't have a set plan as to where everything was going to go, it developed as I went along. I put things where they looked like they fit and worked from there. I think the most difficult part was embroidering through the canvas. I think I may have mentioned before, but I figured out that this piece took around 40 hours. I came to this conclusion because I watched 4 seasons of a show, half a season of another, and 3 movies.

Below is a time-lapse video of what it took to create just one section of leaves. I'm not entirely sure how many minutes 22 seconds equates to.

Below are the photos of my piece hung on the wall in the studio. I've truly never seen my work displayed this way and it was really such a moment of pride for me. I thoroughly enjoyed this project. My favorite part was learning multiple new skills, but especially how to use the Axidraw and how to embroider. After doing the research on the artists who create their work like this, I would love to start creating my own style and create pieces using these techniques and materials.