'A Life in Wool' at the Wagin Woolorama Fashion Parade

 

 

 

 

 

10 Parades, 2 days. What an experience.

Photos by Anita Jean Photography

Specious [Ovis’Aries L’Her]: A textiles investigation

How do people perceive the natural in a human space?

·        

      Expectation

·         Intrusion

·         Personal Space

For this work, I was interested in investigating the idea of ‘personal space’, and the perceptions we have towards the ‘natural’ when it is in this space. According to Bill Mckibben, author of “The end of Nature”, the connectedness of modern life means we no longer need to be aware of our connections with nature. “Human’s no longer see themselves as living in a conjunction with nature” and are “separate entities” (Schwarz, 2012). I feel as if the ‘natural’ is perceived by humans as something which is unknown, not produced and not entirely controlled by humans and therefore it is perceived as something to be wary of. In contrast to this, the ‘human’ space, as a separate entity, is a more comfortable space being something that is created or manipulated by humans and is therefore understandable, predictable and ‘safe’. When the ‘natural’ comes into the ‘human space’ there is a personal response; wariness, discomfort and a want to regain control. I wish to investigate this idea, evoking the viewer to question why this is. 

The aim of my work is to evoke a feeling of both discomfort and intrigue in the viewer. Firstly the viewer will be compelled to feel that ‘nature’ has taken over and soiled something that is meant to be, or originally was, human space. The viewer will perceive the work to be unsafe, dirty, smelly and unhygienic but feel intrigued by the materiality and shape of the work to inspect it further. From this inspection, the viewer will discover that it is lacking the stereotypes that were first noted. In this way, the role of the work is to challenge human perception and expectations regarding what are and what should be human/natural space and prompt to make the viewer question why they are separated?

The final installation was made from individual lengths textiles which where created using felt and dyed with tree bark. The pieces were developments from extensive research into felt including the form, shape and texture as well as the addition of elements both natural and man made; sticks, beads etc..   Disgusted? intrigued? 

Schwarz, E. 2012. The End of Nature; Humanitie’s Perception of Nature. Wordpress. http://blogs.dickinson.edu/humanplaceinnature/2012 Accessed May 3rd, 2013

The Language of Dress~ Hats and Bags

I have just finished Semester One of my final years studies at Curtin. One of the Fashion Unit for this semester was 'Language of Dress' which exists as a research unit for our final collection development. My concept stems from my background and experience of farming in WA. My research included wool as a fibre, the process of natural dyes and rusting, the use of my own constructed wool felt.

The first part of the Unit was the explore the idea of 'accessories' and their relationship to the body. My exploration into this lead me to the use of wool felt in hats, something I now aim to further develop for my final collection runway show in December.

And so continues my love of felt in each of the garments shown above. I am obsessed with wool as a sustainable and dynamic fibre as well as a product which supports the Nation. Whether I have come to love wool on my own, or it was the nagging from farmers I know to promote wool (or a bit of both), my collection will be all encapsulating of wool and the life that surrounds it~

Wool in a Life; a material investigation

“Wool in a life”

Coming from a farming background and currently studying fashion, I am fascinated by wool and the extreme life-cycle it undergoes. I conducted a material investigation exploring techniques such as Nuno-Felting and creating 3D forms in felt. I used atypical elements found in the shearing shed such as discarded wool sweepings, dirt, rusty objects and bark as a way of forming colour and texture which speaks of the beginning of the cycle of wool. My aim for this project was to portray the remarkableness of wool in its processed state,  as well as the beauty in the natural and the dirty which may even compel this component to be ‘fashion’, so continuing the cycle.