EXPANDABLE FOAM

Thinking about more interesting materials I could use, I came up with expandable foam. Bein the outcast in my class and instead of bringing another bag full of fabric I decided to bring a bag full of cans of expandable foam. Although since Glasgow art burnt down, art schools don't approve on using expandable foam inside the buildings. I had to spray the foam outside. I'm not going to lie it is the most annoying thing to work with, it sticks to everything and is super flammable. Me being me, not caring about the whole health and safety system decided not to cry over the fact I have to work outside but just get on with it.

 As my first experiment I decided to loose the stuffing but keep the tights. I sprayed the foam in the tights, a few cigarettes later the shape wasn't interesting enough and to be honest I didn't really enjoy what I was seeing. I started to doubt my idea.

I have decided to just loose the tights.

I then experimented painting over the foam with acrylic paint to see if the color was easy to change.

It turns out that to get the interesting shapes using expandable foam I will have to just spray straight onto the body or mannequin. Otherwise the shapes will not be as interesting and effective.

DRAWINGS FROM FAT

Here are some observational drawings I have done, during experimentation with shapes on the mannequin using balloons and stuffed tights. 

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I really like those drawings, the shapes are all really interesting and different each time, I have used charcoal, pastels and marker pens. When it came to drawing heads I decided that I was going to draw them in the style of the make up that the guy at Electrowerkz had, since this idea started off with him. For the hands I went in with block heavy shapes, not to distract too much from the bain shapes. After doing those drawings I have decided that the shapes I'm using in my manipulation are not as interesting, unexpected and random as in my drawings, I have decided to sleep on it and come up with some different techniques and materials.

FABRIC MANIPULATION AND FAT

Since I decided that being overweight is something that I could seek personal inspiration from, I decided that FAT is going to be the main route I'm going to take forward. Finding and image in Vice has pushed me to take close up shots of my own body to use as my primary research.

 Using a piece of fabric and tying it around my belly has inspired me to use tights. Tights represent the skin very well. I decided I'am going to stuff them and try to remake fat rolls using just those materials. I have then used a stretchy thin jersey to mould around the shapes. I have decided that although this looks very interesting, it looks a little bit too realistic for my asthetic and decided I will use something that would represent a child to create more shapes, I decided to use baloons as well as stuffed tights.

Here I have experimented by creating different shapes and deforming the body. The balloons worked very well and have given me a lot more interesting shapes to draw from. After pinning on the constructions I have done some mixed media drawings.

CLUB KIDS AND MASKS

Being in the library has been hard, no relevant books, no relevant nothing. I finally came across a book full of photos of London club kids. '' New Club Kids'' by Oggy Yoranov. The book is filled with photos of people in crazy outfits and make up. No writing which seemed just like the kind of book I needed to find visual inspiration from.

Here are some of my personal favourites. I looked closer and closer at the images and decided to do some bling drawings of the faces. I really like the linear plain drawings.

 

I have realized that the drawings would make an interesting surface pattern. I drew all of the faces really close together using one line. I did this because I was focusing on a specific group of people, all different yet the same, supporting each other, that's why I decided to draw them using one line. However, surface pattern is not something I want to explore further in this brief.

I have then found an image of a confused child, the red t-shirt contrasting with everything around the boy has inspired me to look at red fabrics. The image has made me evaluate my childhood and all the things children/teens would peer pressure each other into. I have then moved on and created a collage, almost a story. One of the girls isn't feeling very well, she has a white powder all around her nose. Her friend, is jumping on her head, this is my reflection of peer pressure, she is jumping on her head because she is trying to persuade her that she is fine and she needs to carry on sniffing drugs with her.

I have then started looking at materials and fabrics, using some of them on my face to see how they would work as masks. I used a thin scuba and tied it tightly on my face, I loved how that looked. There is something very interesting in the way my face became deformed and my features changed, there is also something interesting about the unisex and sexual feeling about this. While my friend was experimenting with cling foil we tied it around my face and the result was actually quite interesting, there was something very exciting about not being able to breathe between the layers, after each layer I would have to poke a hole for my mouth, that process was actually more interesting than the result itself. 

RESEARCH 2

It's 18:54 and I'm wearing some old over sized tee, a pair of Adidas joggers and some american apparel socks. I haven't been on here for a few days because I felt so not inspired, everything seemed dull and boring and my head was just not in the ' YOU BETTER WERK' mode, until last night. Last night I have decided to finally start doing some initial drawings from my primary research.

A few weekends ago I went to London for a weekend, just to see some of my fabulous friends and to celebrate one of their birthdays, but this isn't this kind of a blog so nevermind. Since I was inspired by the rebellious youth I thought going into some places such as Dalston Superstore and Wut Club would totally inspire me. I got way too drunk and ended up collecting no research except from a Thai note, a lot of drinks and a free entry courtesy of a long haired guy I would like to thank. Saturday night we bought tickets to KAOS at Electrowerkz. As a drunken mess, in an Uber with a gross taxi driver who needed a full body wax and a new season Nasir Mahzar gear (which I would die for), I finally got to Elektrowerkz. The second I stepped through those doors I knew this was the kind of place to collect research.

Strolling through the club in my UV Cyberdog tee, my new rocks, green eyebrows and an Iphone 6 I tried my best to take photos of all the alternative people to reflect on and get inspired by once I got back to Leeds. The photos were too dark, and not good enough. While standing at the bar with new met friends one of them approached a short girl, dressed way too normal for the environment she was in, Elena. She had a huge ass camera and an MA in photography. The day after I asked if I could use her photos in my sketchbook due to my photography being too dark. She agreed and sent me the photos. I couldn't thank this woman more. She saved my fat ass from coming back to my tutors and presenting them nothing but a major hangover.

Every artist and designer works differently. I like to start by just doing linear drawings from which I pick out shapes, find concepts and ideas to continue onto the development and sampling stage where I get more involved with fabrics, fabric manipulation and experimentation with different media.

Fully painted face, a long beard and a harness, this guy seemed like the kinda guy that my kind of a teenager would have a crush on (I did anyway). I started off by looking at his painted face. I made some linear drawings in which I really looked at the shapes and also illustrated some of those. I especially like the blind drawing I did of him and the unplanned bra that just seemed to happen. This is what I love about blind drawing, its so much more creative, the shapes you get are completely not planned or controlled, and you never know what you're going to get. You either love it or hate it. Either way its not up to anyone but you. The way you look at it and the way you work with it after is something that can make those drawings real blind art.

The harness was something I was really interested in. However, I really had to figure out how to incorporate this idea into my brief in a very intelligent way. I was always kind of inspired by obese people. There is something about their bodies that makes them unisex, you completely loose the body shape and you end up with one 'obese' body . Keeping that thought in the back of my head I thought about those teenagers who really deal with weight problems. Everyone who I know hates something about their body and 90% of the time its the fat issue. I thought about all those girls and boys (also me in the past) buying clothing in sizes to small for them just to feel better about their own body. I always wanted to tell everyone I was a 30 inch in jeans when really, I was a big 32. I have decided to look closer at the rings and the strips, so I did some linear drawings followed by minimal drawings using just line. I really like the fat falling out, it reminds me very much of one of my inspirations for this project, the fabulous and outrageous Leigh Bowerys work. Suffering with being overweight in the past has really got me emotionally attached to this idea.

The boy in white PVC and latex. To me white is much less of a pure colour than black. Growing up in Poland white leather boots only meant one thing, a prostitute, whore or a bitch. I believe this is why this guy stood out to me. I was mostly interested in his latex mask. I like the whole idea of no identity, no gender, no nothing. It's exciting and there is something very sexual about it. Hiding all of your insecurities under a mask or just hiding your identity, either way this was something I wanted to feel inspired by. However at the beginning of last night, I really didn't. I started off by just drawing the shapes, 4 oval shapes was not cutting it for me. I decided to draw it using my left hand and in continuous line, still nothing. I forgot about the head and just started drawing the holes for eyes and lips, overlapping them, I felt like I was hypnotized, I couldn't stop, I felt like the idea was growing on me. I felt the urge to colour in some spots that I didn't like. It really started to remind me of camo. Camo. CAMO! Camo is used to hide, not to be seen, to be mistaken by something completely different.

RESEARCH 1

It's 19:22 and I'm sat in my over sized t-shirt, a pair of Calvin Kleins and some old slippers, about to start a blog about fashion, but not another blog for every reader. I'm bored of being restricted at college, home and everywhere I go, so this will hopefully be bullshit free but full of freedom of expression. I'm writing to you because, not only will this look good on my uni application next year but will also let me document my work, thoughts on other designers and artists work and express my opinions and different approaches towards fashion and art.

I missed having a blog, so here I'am again, taking a less fake 'fashion blogger' approach and more of a real fashion student view on things. 

I'm going to begin with a mood board I created for my Final Major Project at college. For this brief we got a word Metamorphosis. After coming up with a lot of concepts I finally decided to stick to one. Becoming a teenager. Something that we all experience, some experience it in a good way, some just turn into a hormonal mess and others, well, they choose to express, shock and seek the attention. And that's the kinda kid I'm inspired by. 

On my mood board I have included photos that I associate with pain, loneliness, partying and drug abuse, blah blah blah. I have also taken inspiration from Club Kids.This brief I'm all about the hidden concepts within the garment, use of interesting fabrics and gender PLAY, because being this age is meant to be all about FUN and PLAYING.

I then started looking at some cool designers to get inspired when it comes to the actual garment and not the concept. It was SOOOOO hard finding inspiration that would really well fit with this concept. After talking to one of my tutors they finally gave me 2 names I was definitely interested in researching, I hate when they give me names of some boring ass designers who I couldn't give less shit about.

Meadham Kirchoff, my new favourite duo, ED and BEN have smashed it for the S/S 15 RTW collection, models picked out from the streets, holes, hanging tampons, bows, boy in skirt, tassels, batty boy. The great use of colours and the amazing fun they have breaking the stereotypes of gender in their design is something that really makes me excited for the future of fashion and also inspires me to continue the legacy of artists who believe in NO GENDER in fashion.

Another catwalk from S/S 15, Ed Marler, young, nip slip, stitch game strong, feminine, nylon, headpiece, over the top, mum, glam, fur, fierce, animal print, feathers, boys? girls? The suttle colours with very interesting cuts and stitching is just, wow. The great way to use fur, dyed. Feathers is something I haven't experimented with and I think it would be cool to coat them in silicone and other substances, loosing feathers is almost like loosing yourself, with every feather there is less of you. I also really like the headpieces and over sized earrings, there is something funny yet serious about them.