Transparency

For this project, I started by researching into Transparent fabrics when I came across two artists, Beatrice Oettinger  and Claudia Casarino. 

Beatrice Oettinger created a line of farbic that she named 'Blooming Fabric'. The designer primarily creates pockets in fabric in which she sews in plants, which creates an out of focus look to the plants due to the fabric that she uses. I was attracted to her work due to how delicate and sensitive her fabrics appeared. I aimed to re create this affect using different materials. 

Claudia Casarino created the installation 'Sleep Disorder' which consisted of dresses made out of transparent fabrics that she suspended from the ceiling which creates this very eerie atmosphere that the audience has to navigate through. This installation inspired me to experiment with a similar material that she used, tulle,  to see if I could make a similar affect. 

I started by using a range of different transparent materials that I had available to me such as tracing paper, sticky back plastic and fabrics. Tracing paper worked extremely well as a transparent material as, when put to the light, it created a cast over the leaves, a similar out of focus effect achieved by Beatrice Oettinger.

The petals weren't as pink as I intended them to be so through a peer review of my work, people suggested that I should experiment with dying the petals to see what effect is created. To do this I used red food colouring to dye the water a florescent pink colour. At first I left the petals in the water for a day, but after they didn't really take the colour I decided to leave them for longer over the weekend. I perhaps left the petals in the water a bit too long as the colour was a lot brighter than I intended however I liked the overall effect it created. The veins were bright red where the water had been absorbed into the petals which added an interesting detail. The images that I took of the process also created an interesting composition as the colours are extremely vibrant and eye catching.

I wanted to see what would happen to the plants if placed on a light box and if any details would be exaggerated. The pink rose petals worked best as the light made parts of the petal transparent so that the veins and the marks on the surface became more apparent, details were shown that wouldn't necessarily be seen otherwise.

I wanted to experiment with the way in which transparency can be captured with the incorporation to flowers which lead me to freezing it in water. I really liked this effect. The delicateness of the ice really complimented the soft rose petals as the creases and folds within the petals were still visible. As the ice melted more of the petals were shown and eventually they sat in a pool of water.

This project really challenged my skills as an artists. I wanted to challenge myself and try something I have never done before which was sewing. I had never before used a sewing machine and at first I found it extremely difficult to use but I eventually got the hand of it and will defiantly be using it again for future projects.