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Wednesday, July 16, 2014

Large scale assessment piece PAP4

I've begun to consider ideas for my final embroidered large scale assessment piece.  This is required to be site specific and designed in negotiation with a 'client', while fitting in with my personal diploma design theme (trees, vegetation).

A local pharmaceutical company was receptive to working with me, to create an embroidered wall hanging for their small foyer area, so I visited their Sydney offices last week to discuss further.  The company is a global operation but their Australian side is office based in a quiet leafy suburb of Sydney.  They have a largely open plan set up on the first floor, with entrance and integral stairwell up from the ground floor.

11.1 site drawing of offices
I drew a quick sketch of the layout which shows the stairs up to the main office, a left turn through the small foyer, opening out into the open plan office space with cubicles.  As you walk through the foyer area, you pass a large curved blue/grey wall which at present is blank.  I am proposing to site my hanging here to create interest in a rather 'blank' area, particularly for any visitors waiting there.

11.2 entry door and stairwell
11.3 seating area in foyer
11.4 proposed wall for hanging
Looking at these photos the perspective makes it look rather narrow but the blank wall is not quite so imposing and the area not so small.  There is a curve to the wall so for a landscape oriented hanging it will need to be soft to follow the contour of the wall.
The only natural light enters the office space from the front so I must assume that the hanging would be viewed in artificial light, specifically fluorescent strip lighting.
The client was not restrictive concerning the design of the hanging but requested that the piece should reflect the business of the company in some way and be artistically pleasing and calming to the eye in that site.

One of the company's biggest products treats the symptoms of Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) using the natural insoluble fibre of the stericulia urens tree.  I felt that a design based on this subject could link with both the company and with my personal theme.  Indeed the leaf of the tree features on promotional material for this product.

On researching the tree, I realised that inspiration could come from not only the leaf (which in itself is rather uninteresting) but also from the textural bark of the tree, the branch arrangements, the tiny star shaped flowers and the follicular fruit.

11.5: Leaves of aterculia urens
(phtoto: www.dehlitree.blogspot.com)
11.6 sterculia urens tree
(photo: www.commons.wikimedia.org)
11.7: Bark of sterculia urens tree
(photo: www.discoverlife.org)
11.8: flowers of sterculia urens
(photo: www.flowersofindia.net)
11.9: fruit of sterculia urens
(photo: www.indianaturewatch.net)
Since these photos were not my own, and I didn't have access to the actual tree itself, I decided to use these images and make my own sketches creating my own shapes inspired by the plant.

11.10: study of sterculia urens tree and bark
11.11: study of sterculia urens leaves and foliage shapes
11.12: study of sterculia urens flowers and seeds
Where all this is leading in terms of design, I'm not sure.  A little more creativity is required....

5 comments:

Anne B said...

Quite a challenge Helen but could lead to more commissions. Your initial ideas look full of possibilities.

Els said...

Hmmmm can only say aye to Anne's comment ;-)

epocktextiles said...

wow, interesting tree, and good that you get the 2 areas of interest together

ferinn said...

There's a lot of interest in the tree you can use as inspiration.The waiting area will be very much enlivened by any eventual piece.Look forward to following your progress.

stitching in the sun said...

Your project looks very exciting even if challenging. This area could really be transformed by your intervention. Are you thinking of using the grey of the wall as a background? Your sketches are beautiful. So curious about what you will come up with