And the penultimate post......

Here for authentication purposes is me with various pieces completed in chapters 9 and 10 of Diploma Module 6.

Life after PAP4: Sterculia

The end is in sight as they say, so here are the details of self-assessment for my 4th Personal Assessment piece Sterculia completed about a year ago:

Evaluation:  The piece was hung from a clear perspex rod (10mm diam) so as to minimize the visual impact of a pole against the wall and not detract from the work.  The flexibility of the rod successfully enabled the piece to follow the curvature of the wall, and not impede the flow of traffic through that area.
The rod was attached to the wall using 3 clear "command" hooks and strips.

All my previous photography of the work was taken against a white backdrop so I was anxious to see how the piece appeared against this darker wall.  I acknowledge that the brown and green colours merge into the background a little more as I suspected they would, but the 'floral' motifs in yellow are now brighter and focal to the piece.  The fluorescent lighting adds to this.

Design changes?  I would like to pursue my idea to hang several overlapping layers distinctly apart but I think a site with an open void might have been better suited to that.  I could have gone bigger of course, making a feature of the curved wall and creating a hanging twice as wide, but overall I am pleased with the result.

Time taken to produce:  

• to prepare and felt the final 2 layers of lace felt - 13 hours
• to prepare the sheer and felted motifs with shisha mirrors - 9 hours
• to attach and free machine embroider - 5 hours

total time - 27 hours

Cost to produce:

• merino wool roving (approx 500g) - $4
• landscape dyes (approx 10g) - $12
• shisha mirrors - $8
• polyester sheer fabric (approx 1m) - $10
• wool yarns, crochet cottons - $7
• embroidery thread, machine and hand - $12
• perspex rod - $16
• resist foam and plastic sheeting for felting - $3

total cost - $72

Methods and order of work:

• dyeing of wool roving, wool yarns, cotton yarns
• laying out dyed yarns and wool roving in lattice formation for felting
• felting of lattice layers
• felting shisha mirrors into wool, drying, cutting out paisley pattern motifs from felt and free machine embroidering
• drawing out motifs on water soluble fabric, stitching motifs through sheers, dissolving fabric, drying then cutting out motifs using soldering iron.
• attaching motifs to lattice by hand stitching

Particular health and safety issues:

• acid dyes - powdered dye kept in sealed pots within sealed container out of reach of children in dedicated dyeing room.  Mask and gloves worn when measuring out into jar.  Care taken in adding hot water, making solution of dye.  Be aware of steam in urn when adding dye solution or wool roving / yarn.  All utensils used only for dyeing procedure.
• felting - work on raised table to minimize strain on back, mop up any water spills on floor around working area
• shisha mirror motifs - be aware of cut mirror edges within felt when free machining felt motifs, wear glasses for protection against broken needles
• soldering iron - work in well ventilated room, preferably next to open window, leave hot iron held in upturned flower pot when not in use, always remember to pull out plug after use.

Since completing the work I have had the opportunity to exhibit it a couple of times - once at Craft NSW, Sydney (Oct 2015) and once as part of Out of Hand contemporary textile exhibition at Wallarobba Cultural Arts Centre, Hornsby (Nov 2015)as part of Untethered fibre artists. 

At the Craft NSW Gallery I was able to hang the piece on 2 perspex rods slightly staggered apart which was an interesting change.

Sterculia at Craft NSW, the Rocks, Sydney

 And at Wallarobba Cultural Arts Centre it was hung at the turn of the stairs up to more gallery rooms.  This allowed visitors had the opportunity to view it from the side as they passed by.

Sterculia, part of Out of Hand, at Wallarobba Cultural Arts Centre, Hornsby

Fibrecraft of Indigenous Australia

 In Australia and the Torres Strait Islands, the indigenous people have traditionally made objects with everyday functions using the materials to hand, recycled from animal and plant fibres such as tree bark, hair, palm fronds and grasses.  In combination, these natural fibres have created clothing, shelter, shades, fishing nets, sieves, canoe sails as well as bags and baskets.

String bags were made for food gathering, to carry and store food and personal items and tools.  They are often called Dilly bags, thought to originate from the Turrbal word dili but there are many other names given to them depending on their place of origin.  They are usually oval in shape, collapsible for ease of storage, with a twined string or cord for slinging around the carrier’s neck.  Grasses or roots are twined to make the string needed to stitch or weave the bag.  The bags are identifiable by the type of stitch used to make them, usually knots with or without loops or twists, to create an open structure of great strength.

1.1: Dilly bag made from grasses and kurrajong bark, maker unknown, acquired 1898, by Australian Museum Sydney

1.2: Detail of knotting in large string bag (Wurra-wurra) made from bark fibre cord, ochre pigment, maker unknown, acquired 1895 by Australian Museum, Sydney

The continuation of the craft technique through sharing and collaboration is very important in Australia, but with respect to the indigenous culture the teaching of Dilly bags generally remains with the indigenous people rather than the greater contemporary basket making community.

Baskets made by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are generally either woven or coiled.

In coiled baskets, a foundation coil is made from a bundle of flexible stick fibres or grasses, over which a working strand of fibre makes a series of buttonhole stitches to cover the bundle core.  This core is tightly coiled, spiralling outwards and upwards in the case of a basket, with the buttonhole stitches wrapping the bundle and occasionally catching the buttonhole stitch on the coil beneath.

1.3: A small coiled basket with handle made using Pandanus fibre from South Australia, maker unknown, acquired 1958 by Australian Museum

1.4: Coiled bag with purse lip opening, plant fibre, Victoria, maker unknown, acquired 1900 by Australian Museum

Woven baskets generally use a method called weft twining.  Here there are two elements: bundles of fibres or split leaves form the WARP, and 2 or sometimes 3 working fibre strands for the WEFT set interlacing and interlinking with the warp bundles.  Pandanus and palm fronds are incorporated in this way.  The pandanus plants are easily propagated and are resilient to adverse environmental conditions making them ideal for weaving purposes.

 

1.5: Bicornual basket (referring to the two horns on the lower corners) from split canes, southern rainforests of Queensland, maker unknown, acquired by Australian Museum, Sydney

1.6: Twined grass and Pandanus basket with ochres from Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, maker unknown, acquired by Australian Museum

1.7: detail of 1.6 above

Not all Aboriginal fibre work is for everyday use, of course.  The same techniques are used with natural fibres in elaborate ceremonial objects and for body adornment, often incorporating feathers, eg. parrot, lorikeet or emu feathers.  The finished articles can be beautifully painted with naturally occurring yellow and red ochre pigments.

 

1. 8:Ceremonial headdress made from paperbark and human-hair string and decorated with emu feathers and ochres (photo courtesy of the Powerhouse Museum, Sydney website

Armed with the experience and skill to make beautifully crafted functional items, many Aboriginal people have gone on to create more innovative sculptural fibre work through art movements established in the central desert regions such as Ernabella.

I was fortunate enough recently to view an exhibition in the Hazelhurst Regional Gallery and Arts Centre, given by the artists of the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunyjatjara (APY) Lands of Central Australia.  The APY Lands are vast, covering over 10% of South Australia near the tri-state border with the Northern Territory and Western Australia.  The APY art movement originates from the art centre at Ernabella established in 1948, making it the oldest continuously running indigenous art centre in Australia.

The exhibition, entitled Nganampa Kililpil, brought together more than 100 artists from across the Lands, sharing unique cultural and artistic traditions.  One collaborative sculptural fibre art installation, Punu Kutjara (Two Trees), was created by 38 weavers and helpers and reflects the vast and abundant country through the depiction of two trees surrounded by many animals, birds and insects.  

1.9: Punu Kutjara (Two Trees) in Hazelhurst Gallery

1.10: One of the Trees from Punu Kutjara

The sculptures are prepared using traditional knotting, wrapping and weaving techniques with local grasses (Kutanu, wangunu and tjanpi) found in the local rockpools, creeks, gullies and claypans.  All these places are deemed sacred and life-giving to the Tjanpi weavers.  The weaving incorporates raffia and plastic string recycled from modern life bringing vibrancy and colour into the installation.

1.11: Detail of weaving in Punu Kutjara sculptural fibre animals

 1.12: Detail of weaving with raffia and plastic string in Punu Kutjara sculptural fibre animals

All the sculptures are models of ancestral spirits; every animal is a dreaming subject which lives on through the creativity of many generations of women.  In this way the desert women can express their cultural heritage in an artistic medium that suits their lifestyle.

All photos have been taken by me except 1.8.

References:

1.  Keller, Christine (2010) Craft and Design Inquiry, issue 2, From Baskets to Bodies: Innovation from Aboriginal Fibre Practice

2.  Nganampa Kililpil: Our Stars (2016) Hazelhurst Regional Gallery and Arts Centre, NSW, Australia

3.  Powerhouse Museum, Sydney, NSW

4.  Tjanpi Desert Weavers (2011), Macmillian Mini-art Series no.19, Macmillan Art Publishing, Australia

5.  www.australianmuseum.net.au/Indigenous_Australia_Cultural_Heritage

6.  www.janesoceania.com/australia_aboriginal_fibrecraft/

7.  www.museum.wa.gov.au/explore/intertwined#coil-stitch

8.  www.nma.gov.au/exhibitions/recoil_change_and_exchange_in_coiled_fibre_art/

And finally the totem.....

I liked the design of my totem silhouette piece in 10.4 but wanted the colours to be more akin to the Aboriginal research of my module so I used a cream woven linen as the background and bonded cut chiffons and organzas on to that.  It measured 20cm by 45cm and was backed by bonding to a stiff batting 2mm thick to support its own weight.

10.8:  Totem background of linen weave with bonded sheer fabric shapes

I then free machined seed stitching in white to emphasise the edges

10.9: Totem background of linen weave with bonded sheer fabric shapes and free machining

I wanted to add dimensional shapes to the background similarly to those in 10.7 where thick batting was sandwiched between fabric on either side by bonding.  The fabric here was recycled teabags and yarn covered by sheer organzas - white on one side and back on the other.  I wanted the shapes to be reversible.
I simplified the motif slightly, edged them with machine stitching and wrapped each with linen twine to recreate Aboriginal stripe markings.  Each shape is approx 8cm by 6cm.

As this was my last practical piece for the diploma (sob!) I felt this totem should be a retrospective of my work in the 6 modules so each shape has hanging detail representative of a particular module:

10.10a:  totem motifs (l to r) gumnut and bark - Vegetation theme research in Module 1,
coiled metal wire bead -  Metal in Module 2,
folded braiding - Strapwork in Module 3

10.10b: totem motifs  (l to r) cardboard motif - Slipwork in Module 4,
laminated lace - Transparentcy and lace in Module 5,
shrunck plastic gumnut - recycled materials in Module 6

Each shape had a 'hook' in the outline to enable it to remain attached to the background when inserted through a cut slit (like a self supported hanging shelf).

The background was formed into a tube and the whole totem can be seen in 10.11 with the shapes attached.

10.12  Totem resolved

Some other shots of the tubular totem -

10.13

10.14

10.15  Back of the totem showing reverse of the shapes

I also rather liked the totem flattened out as a wall piece (10.16), since the motifs still protrude slightly into the room at an angle and the background pattern is more apparent.

10.16

10.17

10.18

10.19

Resolved bonding

After the experimentation of the last chapter using fusible webbing I looked back at my totem designs with a view to developing them in fabric using bonding techniques.
I had tried to create a totem by hanging gumnut shapes but the individual shapes were rather indisinct.
I tried to resolve this by giving each shape a discrete border but didn't seem to help.  I preferred the silhouette and so developed this as a stencil.
Stacking vertical slices of this produced an interesting pattern that could be used in the future.

10.1 totem design

 This design was my inspiration for the two samples (A4 size in 10.2 and 10.4)) to follow.

10.2  Scraps of typed paper and cut threads, fibres were bonded on to white interfacing, and a white sheer bonded on top.  The totem silhouettes were cut from this sandwich and placed on dyed black cloth.  Strips of white, red and green sheer were stitched on top then heat gunned back.
Further whip stitch on top to integrate.

10.3  Close-up of above

I liked the texture created here but not a good representation of the design.
My second sample was simpler but more effective I felt

10.4: Silhouettes cut from white and red sheer organzas and bonded on to background.  Free motion embroidery on top to define the edges and add to tonal shading

10.5: Close up of above 10.4

 For my last resolved sample I went back to the design edited in 8.11.

10.6: On background - bonded shapes cut from white sheer organza, and cut strips of fusible web sandwich of red fibres.  Bobbin cording in red to highlight large shapes.  Pink shapes were cut from bonded sandwich of batting, scraps and red chiffon, edge finished and lightly bonded to background.
Free machine stitching in grey and black over dimensional shapes to integrate them.  Whipstitch on background to give speckled white marking of monoprinting.

10.7 Close-up of 10.6 above