Evaluation

Zanab Ramzan

Blackburn College

Person ID – 32905

Learner ID – 43013

Project Title –

Pathway – Textiles and Design

Evaluation

I have created two very over sized scarves made from silk velvet devore, one made from cotton devore which isn't as large, and two fashion installations. To get to this stage was not as easy as I had first anticipated. I had started the project with a very different outcome in mind, but I think this has worked a lot better than that would ever have. When I first made the connection with my heritage, culture and food, I thought about making a garment from a material called hessian which is used in India and Pakistan to transport large quantities of rice and flour. I thought if I could get hold of some of these which would have had prints and text on them of the brand; it would make the connection deeper and make it more personal to me. However, I couldn't get hold of any hessian rice bags at all, so instead reverted to the idea of using a different material, but taking the print from the packaging. I decided to use the brands that I have at home so the connection is as personal as can be. I still wanted this to be about me exploring my culture and heritage, and this happened to be through food. I was starting to learn how important food actually is, especially in India where there is a lot of poverty. This showed me that despite the country being so rich in culture; it was just as poor financially, which made me appreciate the traditions and heritage a lot more.

One major influence that helped me make the link with food, poverty and packaging was Michelle Reader. She creates sculptures from rubbish and packaging in town centres, and I have interpreted her use of the material in my own way which I think has worked well. I haven’t stuck to what I originally chose as the more research and experiments I did, the further I drifted from my original idea, which now that I look back, has not been negative.

When I discovered devore, I knew that I had to use it, and had wanted to colour it as it was white. The process required to do this was screen printing, so I decided to use that all the way through. When I did a dye test on the material, it took away from the print and design, and I wanted the design to be the focal point, so left the devore white. However, I was still keen on pushing some colour in, and thought of doing a digital print, using the rice packaging. The problem with this was that I had to edit the image on Photoshop to make the colours and the whole design sophisticated and elegant. This was hard as I had to keep editing as there seemed to be something constantly missing. Then, when I had thought that I had done everything and I could print, the file was not compatible with the program that was used to print onto fabric.

When that was sorted, I wanted to print onto a fabric called muslin, which is very lightweight and can be manipulated into different ways of draping. The problem with this was as it was printing, the fabric tended to collect together, smudging the ink, and leaving bright red ink blotches which were very visible. I did a few tests of this print and this seemed to happen every time, so I discarded the idea as I didn’t want red ink blotches on my work as most of it was white.

I also tried manu text and screen printing onto a background instead of leaving it plain white, but this reduced the crisp pure effect and the print on its own worked better. Instead, I screen printed onto two lengths of fabric; muslin and cotton with the idea to hang them as individual pieces alongside the devore to have a contrast with the white. I used a random print to create these which is where you screen print without measuring where you are going to print. You print as you go along, which I found to be very difficult as I like to know what I am doing before I do it. This also taught me that I can’t always have control over what is happening, and sometimes have to agree with it without having any input. The random print took a lot of time and thought, but in the end was worth it.

Things turned out to be very different from what I had originally thought, especially when it came to exhibition time and putting my work up. I had planned to hang the cotton and muslin screen prints alongside the devore, but the devore prints being all white worked as a three without these. I still wanted to include them in my exhibition so thought of creating two sari pieces which were just installations as they had been pinned to look like a garment. When these were placed in front of the white hangings, it felt like the brought the whole exhibition together. I felt it was tough for me to make these decisions as I didn’t know if they would work, as I like to know before, but if anything, this has helped me become more open to possibilities of something you didn't anticipate or even consider working.

I also had problems with my exhibition space as I first had a flat wall, which didn't bring out the full potential of my work, so I was then given a corner, which I was then able to display all my work.

As I am always surrounded by colour due to my heritage, I have come to love it and wanted this to come across in my work. Through experimentation, I found that they needed to be toned down, and inspired by the colours on the food packaging, I did just that. I felt it was hard to let go of the brightness as it is a part of who I am, but a part of my original proposal was to consider the traditional, but create something contemporary, and I have achieved just that especially with the fashion installations, as I draped the two pieces as saris; one in the traditional way, and one in a way I thought to be different, unique and most importantly, contemporary. This project is about more than just the sari pieces at the end, and to see the detail and work, a closer look is needed.

If I had more time, I think I would be able to take this project further and develop the designs and prints further, use different materials and fabrics. There is a lot of potential in this project, and as it is personal to me, I feel there is a lot more I could do with it.