Chaplaincy - Completed

Today I installed my commission in the chaplaincy on Oxford Road. Despite the difficulties I have come across whilst making it, I am really pleased with how it has all come together and the way it looks within the space. I believe my design reflects the space in a harmonious manner and draws the eye into the space. It also looks good and works well next to the other students work in the space. 

Evaluation

Nearing the end of this final unit, I feel like I have fulfilled my intentions in creating a body of work and a portfolio that represents who I am as a designer/ creator. My samples can be adapted to suit a number of different outcomes including my two main areas of interest, accessories for fashion and sculpture/ public art.  

My concept has developed with strong ideas that I feel I can push further and use as a basis for future artworks and possibly more commissions. The continuation of the first unit into this one has given me a platform in which to create a more refined collection of samples for this unit and my use of colour has grown in keeping with my theme. 

I have developed the way in which I have been using techniques including laser cutting and 3D printing and in the future I would like to develop my skills and ideas within these specialisms to push the boundaries of what I create and how I create it. I would also like to experiment with how the techniques I use interact and the combination of techniques I use to create exciting new samples. 

I also feel that although I have furthered my research in the areas I have drawn inspiration from (space travel, futuristic themes etc), I can still look deeper into these areas to gain a broader knowledge of them which will in turn help me to create more interesting artworks. I am keen to use future forward concepts and ideas as a basis for my upcoming works as I believe that the textiles and fashion industries are constantly changing and moving towards the future and always striving to be cutting edge.

The chaplaincy commission has continued to heighten my interest in the area of sculpture and the completion of the piece shows that the way I work and the designs I create are suitable for this area, as does the acceptance of my idea for the vertical gallery commission. These experiences will be important when pitching for artworks when I finish university and have taught me a number of lessons along the way that I can gain from and use in the future. I will continue to push my work in this area by pitching for commissions and designing sculpture based pieces for my portfolio. I now need to showcase my work in other ways to show the diversity of my samples, for example I will put together a separate portfolio which is more fashion based and attempt to show this is more fashion and textiles based environments. 

Both my portfolio and my website will help me to showcase my work to a wider audience and hopefully I will gain a variety of interest and contacts through these outputs. 

I am keen to carry on being as diverse as possible in the creation of my samples and to collaborate with as many different types of designers and artists ass I can. I will also continue to look to the future within design and attempt to create cutting edge materials sculptures and works.

Website Link

I decided to make a website to show my work in a professional manner online. This way it will reach a larger and more varied audience. 

I have kept the design on my website simple and clean, firstly to reflect the nature of my work and to keep it as the main focus. It also helps to keep the work clear for people to view with no unnecessary distractions.

In the future I will expand my online presence and set up account on various creative and business platforms such as 'linked in' and 'behance' to ensure that my work reaches as many people as possible.

www.danushakomar.co.uk  

Fashion Accessory Collages

Sci-Fi Landscapes

                                   



I have been looking at images and visuals of landscapes in space as inspiration for sculpture. I feel that my samples could translate rather well as sci-fi like sculptures or even set design. Layering images of my samples and found images give a sense of how the work would translate within space/ place.

Fabric Samples

 Fabric samples for accessories (bags etc).

LEFT: Spray painted wool felt, perspex crystals, plastic tubing, fluorescent pink thread.

RIGHT: Laser cut wool felt, enamel, enamelled plastic tubing, fringing.

BOTTOM: Laser engraved neoprene, Laser cut perspex tubes.

Accessories Samples

Sculptural headpieces.

Left: Laser cut rubber, parachute cord, plastic tubing.

Right: Enamelled plastic tubing, Fringing.

Inspiration - Science

Petri Dish project by Klari Reis. 

Klari Reis painted hundreds of petri dishes with growth like shapes and patterns. 

Vertical Gallery

I decided to pitch for one of the vertical gallery spaces for the degree show as I thought that it would be another good opportunity to showcase the sculpture side of my work on a larger scale. 

I found myself being drawn to the empty space above the lobby area and thought that it was calling out for something to temporarily fill the space.

My pitch was to create a hanging 'space cloud' to fill the space, made from all of the cluster pieces I have been working on in my practice.

I needed to find a way of holding the sculpture in mid air without hanging, so the idea is to attach the pieces to a cluster of helium filled balloons. This would need to be tested however to ensure health and safety.  

My idea was accepted so I know need to begin further sampling and testing to ensure the best result possible!

3D Samples - Chaplaincy

The 3D printed pieces for my chaplaincy commission arrived this week. The three materials I am using are white plastic, clear frosted plastic and raw bronze. I originally planned to use white ceramic however the design of the shape I am using did not fit the specifications of the material so I substituted this with the frosted plastic. I chose  to use raw bronze as the metal pieces for the sculpture as I felt that it best reflects the colour of the door to the building. 

I am pleased with the finish of these pieces so the next step is to order the mirrored perspex and to put the sculpture together.

Initial Sampling

Initial samples using the new laser cut crystal shapes.

Scholten and Baijings

D-CONSTRUCTED / BLUSH - DESIGN IN FULL COLOUR  Scholten & Baijings, 2011http://www.scholtenbaijings.com/#Project

Scholten & Baijings are a design duo that create samples and designs for various different companies and outcomes. I admire their willingness to design for a variety of areas, stretching their skills and ideas to create fresh designs. 

This is a way in which I would like to work in the future, collaborating with and working for a plethora of different people and companies to create a wide range of samples and products using various techniques and technologies. 

I have already started to work in a similar way by thinking about how my designs can be adapted to different areas(accessories, sculpture).

Growths and Formations

To compliment my developed concept of reflecting the growth of new technologies in design, I have been researching and drawing from visuals of natural growths and crystal formations. I have found that the crystal formations work the best with my original designs as they are quite geometric by nature. I feel that they will also give a contrast to the very regular patterns within the aesthetics of my samples as they grow in an irregular fashion.

I have also started to laser cut some of these shapes from perspex using the colours in my palette.

Final Major Project

For my final major project I have decided to focus my work in more of a sculptural accessories direction as the feedback from my last unit suggested that my way of working would be better suited to this sort of design. This will also allow me to combine the two areas that I am interested in within my work; sculpture and fashion. 

I intend to further the research I have undertaken in the previous unit to develop my work under similar themes. This will include researching further into Sci-fi films and paraphernalia, space travel and geometric patterns. 

I also intend to carry on using new technologies such as laser cutting and 3D printing, developing my skills in them and to explore the ways in which these technologies are rapidly pushing new design and growing in use in many creative areas. This idea of growth in new technologies within design will become part of my developed concept and therefore I will also research visuals to compliment this such as natural growths, geodes and crystal formations. 

My chaplaincy commission will also form part of this unit through the making and installation of the piece. 

Evaluation

Overall I feel that this unit has been a success for me. I have explored everything that I wanted to explore within the time period and I feel that I have pushed my ideas very far within the time frame. I feel that my research into my concept has been thorough and I have pulled inspiration from a number of sources other than the obvious initial areas. This helped my work to develop in a more interesting and varied way.

I enjoyed using the new technologies to create exciting designs for fashion fabrics. I have broadened my range of skills and combined new skills with old ones. I also think that these skills that I have learnt (e.g. 3D printing) will help my work to develop in the future. In unit x and beyond I would like to carry on exploring these new technologies and to push my ideas within the processes as far as possible. I would also like to start to use more new technologies, new materials and possibly some more traditional methods (such as hand printing) to allow my work to be more future facing. I have also been networking and possibly found some collaboration opportunities through using these processes. 

My aim was to create samples for high end fashion and I think that I have achieved this. I spent a long time developing my ideas to create samples that were time consuming to make and have many different elements to them. However I think I need to have a more outward facing approach when focusing my work within this area as I have discovered it is a very tough industry to enter. In unit x I would like to broaden my online presence and network more within the field to gain more insight and experience. It will also help me to allow my work to be seen by a variety of people within the industry.

I stuck to my colour palette, which I believe helped my sampling to flow and also helped to direct my final collection of samples to by cohesive. This is essential for a collection to work well. I may start to introduce more colours within unit x to help further develop my sampling. 

The live project was a huge success for me as it showed me that my work does fit into other contexts which is something that I wanted to explore within this unit. It has also given me more confidence in my work and my communication skills have got a great deal better after doing the presentation. I will be making the piece during unit x and it will be linked to my degree show. This will continue to show the diversity in contexts within my work. 

Unit X will be a continuation of this project and concept however I will develop it a lot more and will start to look at garment construction and accessories. I feel that the content of this project can be pushed much further with more time which is one of the reasons I would like to continue with it. I am also thinking about creating a grounding for my work such as a story or character as I think it would help my samples to develop in a much more interesting and solid way.


I will continue to use this reflective blog in Unit X as I feel it helps me to keep track of my progress and to make decisions about the direction of my work. It also works as a resource to store inspiration and contextual references that I can keep revisiting if needed. 

Illustrations

Final Material and Colour Palette

3D Printing Developed

After 3D printing my hexagrammic pyramid embellishments I realised that they needed to be developed and covered in some way. I printed more in various sizes and I also printed them with holes through the top so that I could sew them together and to my samples. I initially had problems with this as the holes were to close to the edge at first however this was resolved fairly quickly by re-placing the holes. 

I tried a few different ways of covering the pieces. The first attempt was covering them with fluorescent thread. However because of the form of the pieces the thread did not stick properly and ended up looking messy. Therefore I decided to spray paint them in enamel. After deciding to add fluorescent orange to my colour palette I thought it would be fitting to spray them in that colour. I also sprayed some in white to give contrast. I am very pleased with the outcome and will continue to use them in my samples. I would like to carry on using this method into unit x and experimenting with different shapes and uses for the pieces.

Adding an Extra Something

Following my tutorial with Julie, I realised that some of the samples that I was putting together were starting to look a little flat. This was because there were no highlights of colour in them to bring out the detail. I therefore decided to add a colour to them that I had visited in some early drawings but had then dropped from the colour palette, FLUORESCENT ORANGE. This colour gives an extra pop in the visuals of the samples and adds more interest to them. I have added the colour by using fluorescent orange thread to sew into my samples and also painting the edges of my laser cut perspex pieces to allow them to stand out more from the base fabric. (I didn't just use fluorescent orange perspex as I didn't want the pieces to affect the base fabric colour).

As a result of this I think that my samples are visually a lot more exciting. 

Chaplaincy Commission Result

I pitched for the chaplaincy commission today and found out that my idea was chosen for the entrance. This shows that my work does fit into the sculpture/ installation context I was hoping to explore! 

Chaplaincy Commission

The live brief I have chosen is the Chaplaincy Commission. This involves designing a piece of artwork to fit in one of two spaces within the chaplaincy on Oxford road. I decided to pitch for this brief as it gives me a chance to explore the possibility of my work fitting into an installation / sculptural context. 

The space allows people of different faiths to meditate and pray on a day to day basis. The words that came to mind were togetherness, reflection, faith, harmony etc. These are the themes I want to incorporate into the piece. The space is also of modernist 70s architecture which is another reason I believe my work could fit quite well within it. The space I have chosen to pitch for is the entrance as I don't feel that my work is meditative enough for the alter space. Both the brass door and the cylindrical radiators have influenced my design.

The design is based around the idea of togetherness which reflects the idea of closest packing in nature (which I have been studying in my sampling). The design is also loosely based on a sunflower head, which uses this technique of closest packing. I am pitching to use the hexagrammic 3D printed shapes that I have been using in my project as I believe they fit with the modernist architecture and they will also bring more interest to the space through utilising a new and exciting technology. They will be made of 3D printed plastic, brass and ceramic and will be different sizes to reflect the difference in faiths and people that pass in and out of the space. The pieces will be mounted on a circular mirror (made of mirrored perspex) which suggests the idea of reflection within the space.