Raqib Shaw - Manchester Art Gallery

I had been researching which galleries at the moment have indian exhibitions on, and I found that Manchester were exhibiting Raqib Shaw, whose work is encrusted with jewels. It is almost a strange thing to put on a painting, but it adds a depth to it, and draws the viewer in, which it did to me. You can't help but stare in awe as to how breath taking the paintings look, despite the fact that they are in fact quite dark and terrifying with mythical beats and warriors laden within, but they also reflect the ornate style of persian miniatures and Kashmiri and Japanese textiles. Beneath their beautiful jewel - like surface, is a collection of violent images inspired by ancient myths and religious tales from both eastern and western tradition. 

This has got to be my favourite. I did find quite a lot of his work quite depressing and dark, which I didn't think it would have been, not to the extent that it was anyway. This is one that had a pretty element to it, with the flowers and the blue sky. It can almost be seen as being picturesque, and it looks like there are angels with bows and arrows, which there aren't. It looks like a war in paradise, which is very contradicting, as paradise is supposed to be the most beautiful and calmest of places. It's so wrong that it looks right. 

I think that the jewels are not just for embellishment, but they almost guide your eye towards the events that are happening in the painting. In the painting in general, you can see innocence and freedom, and comparing his earlier and later works, the journey is visible, as time has progressed, they have become more tighter, detailed and complex. 

Shaw mentions Hieronymus Bosh as one of his key influences and this can be clearly sensed when we are faced with his art – there is opulence mixed with torture, the richness of technique contrasting with agony. Indeed, technique is one of the most significant elements of this work. Shaw uses metallic and enamel paints, manipulating them with a porcupine quill and later embellishing them with feathers and flowers. Each part is outlined in embossed gold, further adding to the splendour of his end results.

Thursday 25th April - Surface Design Artists

As well as looking at Indian artists and designers, I want to look at surface design artists. This is because I want my research to be as broad as it can be, so I am not narrowing my ideas down from the start, as whilst I am looking at these artists, I might be inspired by their work and want to create a sample in the style of it.

Organic Patterns - These portray natural forms of flora and fauna, which is the most popular design category. Observational drawings play a major part. There is emphasis of fruit, flowers, leaves and animals. 

Johanna Basford

This artist does not use any colour at all, and weirdly, I think it is an effective way of creating a pattern, and the detailed parts are more defined - it drawn you in to explore the work, almost like a game of hide and seek - you have to look through all the big leafy drawings to see the tiny detail. 
These patterns look a lot like henna designs - maybe that is why I am so drawn to this particular artist's work. 

Another artist that I looked at was Julie Ingham. She creates designs for postcards and birthday cards. 

Ingham's designs are more block like in the sense that they can be filled in with colour. They appear to be more graphic like and not as detailed as Basford. The work is still effective for it's purpose. 

Hannah Werning 

Werning's work is very floral, and I think some of her pieces have a theme such as the one above. It reminds me of Africa due to the zebras and the colours that have been used. As I am currently considering using old sacks of rice and images from flour and rice bags, I want to to be able to bring India across in my prints, so it almost tells a story about the place. 

Thursday 25th April - India and Sustainability

In one sense, India can be seen as a poor country economically. It has a lot of poor starving people, but on the other hand it can be seen as being rich all at the same time. This is due to its rich colour, traditions and culture. I want to incorporate both these aspects into my work, so I am looking at sustainability and recycling. I was thinking of just at the start creating a sari that would have an original design, and in one way it would have been something new for me, but it has been done before and is being done all the time. I want to experiment and create something new that I suppose has a message, a meaning, which is not just to look pretty. 
I have been looking at using the sacks of rice and flour after they have fulfilled their initial purpose of transporting the rice. The sacks come sometimes with prints on them, showing the name of the brand and perhaps an image, and this is what I really want to get hold of, but it will be hard, as most places will have them full of rice, where I need them empty, so I can print onto them, experiment with them, see what I will and won't be able to do with them. If I can't get hold of anything at all, I work at an asian cash and carry, and they sell products that originally come from India and Pakistan, so I can photograph them and create a design to print. 
I will be reusing the sacks after they would have initially been thrown away. I have come across something I didn't think I would - ethical fashion. These days, most companies buy in bulk so they can get the cheapest price and make the maximum profit, and the crafts people who actually make the garments are paid in pennies. 
Sustainable fashion is part of the trend of sustainable design where a product is created and produced with consideration to the environmental and social impact it may have throughout it's total life span. 
One company that strives to achieve this is People Tree. People Tree Limited, recognised by consumers and the fashion industry media as a pioneer in Fair Trade and environmentally sustainable fashion, has been selling Fair Trade fashion in the UK since 2001. The business was founded by Safia and James Minney to provide customers with desirable fashion, whilst working to improve the lives and environment of the artisans and farmers in developing countries who work to make the products. It builds on the success of Fair Trade Company KK in Japan, also trading as People Tree, founded by them in 1991.

People Tree Mission

To support producer partners’ efforts towards economic independence and control over their environment and to challenge the power structures that undermine their rights to a livelihood.

To protect the environment and use natural resources sustainably throughout our trading and to promote environmentally responsible lifestyles and environmental initiatives to create new models to promote sustainability.

To supply customers with good quality products, with friendly and efficient service and build awareness to empower consumers and producers
to participate in Fair Trade and environmentally sustainable solutions.

To provide a supportive environment to all stakeholders and promote dialogue and understanding between them.

To set an example to business and the government of a Fair Trade model of business based on partnership, people-centered values and sustainability.

Before embarking on this journey of my FMP, I didn't even know that this was a problem and was happening. From now on, when I am buying fabric and clothes, I will make sure I find out where it has been sourced from. I want my pieces and experiments to be ethically sourced, so if I can do that, I will. 

There are another couple of companies who do the same, such as Sika Designs. Different companies have different reasons for doing this. Sika Designs works a lot with people in Africa, and by ethically sourcing their materials and paying the craftspeople correctly, they are able to raise money for charities in Africa, so the money that they make as profit is spent this way. 

After a chance meeting between Lance Clark (founder of Soul Of Africa) and Phyllis Taylor (MD and designer of ready to wear fashion label Sika) at London Fashion Week in February 2008, Lance commissioned Phyllis to design two styles of sandals exclusively for Soul of Africa's Spring/Summer 2008 collection. Taylor 's highly skilled manufacturing team in Ghana have produced these beautifully hand made sandals using only quality materials sourced in Ghana . The sandals have been suitably named Aya (which means 'not afraid') and Asaba (which means 'to come back again') which are traditional names taken from the Ghanaian dialect Twi. For every pair of Soul of Africa shoes sold, to date, raising over $1.5 million, all manufacturing profit goes directly to the upkeep and schooling of young orphans, themselves often not infected, who have lost their parents to AIDS.

LONDON FASHION WEEK 2008

In February 2008 Sika exhibited at London Fashion Week with the Ethical Fashion Forum as part of Estethica, London's sustainable fashion initiative (in association with Accessorize and Monsoon).

RUNWAY AFRICA

In September 2007 Sika exhibited at RUNWAY AFRICA, in Washington DC. Runway Africa is a stylish and elegant couture exhibit that provides an intimate look at Africa's creative fashion industry while spotlighting African influence in today's mainstream style and fashion. RUNWAY AFRICA was created to infuse, educate, and introduce to the world, the vibrancy of African inspired couture designs while giving back to Africa through a carefully chosen non-profit beneficiary. The beneficiary for 2007 was the 'Keep a child alive' foundation.

This adds meaning to fashion, and makes you want to create something that will benefit people, so it has a purpose which creates a drive, and I want to achieve this. 

Wednesday 24th April - India Photos

As much as I would like to actually go to India, I can't and I was talking to Danielle and she has been! For my inspiration, I know I shouldn't just look at other designer's work and artists - I need to get down to actually looking at India and its colourful culture and traditions as it is bursting with these. As I was looking through the pictures, I could see how the architecture and carvings in temples and mosques were incorporated into fashion and designs. 

In this image, there are floral patterns, but the interesting thing that I saw was Islamic calligraphy, and it was also found carved into temples and the walls. It adds a depth and increases the meaning of the piece/wall. It is also known as Arabic script is used by all muslims in their languages. It is used to represent God as muslims refuse to represent God with images. Calligraphy is especially revered among Islamic arts as it was the primary means for the preservation of the Quran. This has a lot of meaning for me as I am a muslim and can read arabic even though I do not understand every word. I think it would be good to experiment with pattern and calligraphy together, as they are a good combination, and certainly in the picture above, they compliment each other. 

The sheer amount of pattern and detail in this is just breath taking. I could stand and stare at this for hours! I would like to have a lot of detail in what I do, but I think that before I think I will definitely have to create a small sample which has a lot of detail so I can calculate how long it takes, and if I was to increase the scale, would it still work? 

These are some of the temples and sacred buildings in India and I think they are just beautiful. I can see where designers and artists get their motifs and inspiration from - the archway in the picture above is a piece of art in itself. I can see that design being on traditional Indian dress around the neckline - well that's where I would put it! 

These monument kind of things have all been hand carved.. They are found in temples, and some of them are eroding as they are really old, which is a shame as they are so intricate. 

These are the colours that are used for the festival called holi, and are sold by weight, but they just look gorgeous - like a coloured hill. They remind me of sweets and candy. The festival itself is based on good triumphing over evil, and I think the colours used define that. 

Even this little tuck shop that doubles up as the owners house is full of colour and I can see it becoming a pattern - the way that the crisps are hung - I can see this as a pattern on a dress, on a catwalk. 

This sari is most likely a bridal sari, and the amount of work that went into creating this is clearly visible. I think embroidery and beading can take a garment to another level, rather than just a plain design. 

Wednesday 24th April - Primary Research

I also went on a flower hunt to get some images of flowers myself, so I went into town, and saw some primroses outside that looked like they had just been planted, so were alive and fresh. 

These flowers are 2 toned, and I think this is nice, but what I actually want to do is draw them so they can stylised to create a pattern design which I can then screen print with and experiment with using different colours. I want to create my own patterns from scratch, but still look at the traditional patterns as well such as paisley, which is used in all areas on Indian textile. 

I also went to the local florists in town and in the market, even thought they did not have the best range of flowers, in fact they hardly had any! The market flower stall was selling mostly artificial flowers, and I wanted to photograph fresh flowers - I think there is something about fresh flowers that is not evident in artificial.

The thing that I like about these flowers is that they are simple, and are not hard to draw and stylize. This gives the chance to add extra detail, and if I use the flowers as my design, I could then add beads and embroidery.