Wings
For my Unit project in my Textile Cultures class, our end of term piece was to create a sculpture out of an original piece of textile, with inspiration from the patter we chose to screen print onto that textile. The purpose of this assignment was to help us think about Textiles in a different way, and to give a look at how the print of textiles impacts or makes a statement about you or the story you want your clothes to tell. I feel proud of the fact that I was able to be independent during my work in this unit. I felt good about my ideas and was comfortable sharing them and diving deep. I learned that every pattern tells a story, whether you are aware of it or not.
Sewing
My art creation is a pair of angel wings derived from my original screen printed textile. The story behind my choice to make angel wings is related to my original textile because the original pattern on my textile is the symbol ‘OM’. This symbol has a great significance with me and my travels. When I was traveling around the island of Bali, this symbol was a common occurrence. The symbol “OM” is from the Hindu culture, which is a major religion in Bali. It is said that that sound OM was the first sound heard in the universe, and therefore, the creator of all life on earth! Relating back to why I chose wings, the Bali gods could fly and humans wanted to be all powerful like their gods; however, they could not fly. I decided to create wings, using all of my textile, because I am going with the theme of humans trying to be like the gods, like the Balinese people. I think my chosen form of textile art (an interactive sculpture) enhances the story of the printed pattern because Bali gods were the masters for which some of the temples that I saw were built. I am hoping my angel wings will remind me of the Balinese people’s dedication to their gods and their yearning to be like them.
The process of creating my art piece was very simple. First, I looked at examples of different types of textile arts. Once I decided I liked sculpture the best, I drew a blueprint of my idea to make wings. The next step was to break down the blueprint into shapes and create a pattern using measurements and life-size pieces of paper. Then I traced all the shapes onto my textile and cut it out. After sewing everything together and threading wire through the outsides of my wings for structure, I was ready to rock!