Wk 16.
The common elements in the patterns I was drawn to are:
Dark
Busy
Florals
Insects
Luscious textures
Maximalism
As I’m decorating my new home I’m being faced with the abject more than I’d appreciate and have found an interest, yet again, in pattern. (first image, Enchanted Wings by Bethany Salt (2021). Second, below, Upcycled coffee table using scrap wallpaper, gold leaf and chalk paint and Third shows the mix&match textures colours and patterns of my homemade curtains including a homemade curtain tie from green crushed velvet, and cord with a beaded bee embroidered on)
Ever since I started reading the yellow wallpaper (Gilman, 2015) it’s reoccurred or rather haunted my artistic and personal life so part of my practice this semester was to fully embrace it as well as embracing some of my own heritage by looking into Biomorphic patterns as they appear in Islamic art.
Growing up in a house with an Muslim dad and an eccentric mum strong, intricate patterns are not something foreign to me but I felt that to get a proper understanding of how to create these patterns faithfully and knowledgeably would require a little tutoring so I started taking the Domestika course by Esra Alhamal (2023) in order to learn the process start to finish as well as learn some of the history behind it too. Find my notes and sketches below.
From here I decided to focus my intention and new knowledge on the piece I’d submit for The Good, The Bic and The Ugly exhibition
‘The Rat-Man’s Hell’
Made from A2 paper and Bic pens, including big ink that has been thinned with baby oil and dish soap and applied with a brush.
Next Steps
I’ll continue developing this skill in my own time but now I have a basic understanding of creating fluidity, uniformity and intrigue with pattern I hope to intertwine it into my practice more generally.
I’ve also been looking into the work of Ana Teresa Barboza and think there’s real potential for me to incorporate textiles into this new skill set also as she very successfully combines very difficult themes with abject imagery and embraces the femininity of craft and pattern in her pieces.
(Suki, 2013)
Reference list
Gilman, C. P. (2015) Herland, and The Yellow Wallpaper. London: Vintage Books
The Craft Cotton Co. (2023) ‘Meet Beth Salt... designer of Enchanted Wings’ The Craft Cotton Co, 12 October 2021. Available at: https://www.craftcottonblog.co.uk/post/meet-beth-salt-designer-of-enchanted-wings (Accessed: 24 April 2023)
Salt, B. (2021) Enchanted Wings [Printed Cotton]
Alhamal, E. (2023) ‘Introduction to Islamic Art’ Domestika. Available at: https://www.domestika.org/en/courses/3462-introduction-to-islamic-art-create-biomorphic-patterns (Accessed: 24 April 2023)
Rice, D. T. (1975) Islamic art (rev. ed.). London: Thames and Hudson.
Freud, S. (2001) Two case histories: 'Little Hans' and the 'Rat Man'. Edited by J. Strachey, A. Tyson and A. Strachey. Manhattan : Random House. Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works, Vol. 10
Suki (2013) ‘The romantic embroidery of Ana Teresa Barboza Gubo’ LE FIL CONDUCTEUR, 21 July 2013. Available at: https://lefilconducteurinenglish.wordpress.com/2013/07/21/ana-teresa-barboza-gubo/ (Accessed: 24 July 2023)