Summer Project: Gaudi

My main inspiration for the start of my work came from visiting Barcelona for a short holiday. Whilst I was here, I visited Park Guell (also known as Gaudi’s gardens) that is situated in the Catalonian district. Park Guell was commissioned by Eusebi Guell who wanted to create a stylish park for Barcelona aristocracy. The park contains some beautifully curved architecture, irregular shapes and a giant dose of ‘natural form’ inspired work. Park Guell also has a small house which Gaudi lived in at one stage. This was interesting to see the living conditions of what is now one of the most famous artists in the world. The house has now been converted into a museum and contains furniture also designed by himself. However, it was at the top of the park where I was instantly struck by the bright and bold colours of the mosaic benches that ran around the viewing platform (a stunning sight of the whole of the city). There was an instant connection with the beautifully patterned, miss-matched, multi-coloured tiles and got me thinking about geometrical pattern. Experimentation with this first came in the form of collage.

 

 

I started to look at different patterned papers and forming shapes from this, just like the different patterns in each of the benches. Distinguishing a colour palate was not a priority for me just yet as my photographs and initial inspiration Polaroid contained a vast amount of colours in an infinite array of shades.
 

This collage is one of my favourite experiments as there is a definite connection between my images of the mosaics. I have decided that I would like to specialise in Weave this year, and there is a lot of excitement when starting to think about the visual research, and how I could relate and translate my ‘drawings’. I enjoy the contrast between the pastel green, lilac and peach, to the monochrome writing and dark patterned triangles and feel that this would look beautifully bold when in weave.

Maryanne Moodie relates perfectly to this specific initial collage; a textile designer that specialises in stunning, geometric, hand woven wall hangings. Originally based in Melbourne, Maryanne now lives and practices in Brooklyn, New York. Although she has only been weaving since 2010, she has a substantial following of textile lovers on social networking sights, specifically Instagram, and my love for her increases by the day. I mainly enjoy Maryanne’s work due to the colour and abstract in shape.
 

 

I’m unsure as to whether translating my collages into floor loom weaves would be a challenge with the structure of the pattern(something that I need to figure out as I am still yet to learn may processes within Weave), however I started to experiment with my own hand loom.
 

Here I proceeded to create shape with my hand loom (‘Loom and Spindle’http://www.loomandspindle.com.au/wholesale/) to start transferring my drawings into fabric. I’d like to see my work in a similar industry to Maryanne Moodie, mainly commercial and within interiors. However I would like to produce for the mass market, which is something to evaluate as I go along.