In my textile class, we created sculptures out of our screen printed fabric. I decided to make a stuffed animal in the shape of a cow. I chose a cow because on my fabric I told the story of the Chicago fire. When I screen printed each screen was a piece of the story. When I added the cow I added another Piece to the story. One thing I am very proud of in this project was my ability to keep a consistent theme. One thing I really struggled with was sewing, because before this class I had never used a sewing machine before.
Pattern Artist Statement
Zoe Parks
Cows Trample Chicago
Medium: Installation
Size: 32×20 in
For my final art piece I made a large stuffed cow and a basket of mini cows. I came up with the idea of a sculpture stuffed animal because of my art teacher, Hiu. The cows are directly related to my fabric pattern of the Chicago fire, because the cows are what caused the Chicago fire.To turn my sculpture into both an installation and a sculpture, I will leave my basket out for the audience to each take a cow with them.
To execute my blueprint of my cows, I drew the outline of a large cow on my fabric twice and then I sewed the pieces together. Then I stuffed the fabric with stuffing. I also crocheted a basket, in which i put little cows also made out of my fabric. The little cows were too little to stuff and sew so I glued them together. It’s important to remember when drawing on fabric to leave sewing room, because when you sew you have to go farther in than your original outline. I chose to sew because it was necessary in order to create a stuffed animal. At first I used the sewing machine, but when I was almost done sewing it shut, I left a small hole to put the stuffing through. Then once i was done with the stuffing I sewed it shut by hand. For the basket i decided i wanted to crochet because i wanted to learn a new technique. To crochet I had to cut my fabric into strips and then crochet them into a long line. After i was done crocheting I spun the fabric into a basket. With the basket completed a filled it with my miniature cows.
