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ENTRY PROJECT

RESEARCH

DEVELOPMENT

To me, celebration is all about giving thanks and appreciating what you have, so when thinking about what to create for this project I decided to really zoom in on things that I am thankful for, simple things that are taken for granted, but not everyone has the opportunity to appreciate and find security in. During the winter months of 2020 through to 2021, the UK was in a national lockdown and everyone was asked to stay inside. Record temperatures were reached, with -23C recorded in Braemar in Aberdeenshire on the 11th February, the UK's lowest since 1995.  This was following storm Christopher which took place in January 2020, causing widespread flooding to the nation. To tackle this cold and uncomfortable time, people had to turn to clothing and layer up as many couldn't afford to keep their homes heated throughout the day. This project is a celebration and commemoration of a time when fashion and clothing was a necessity, but also a luxury, and  am thankful that I had the privilege of feeling comfort and security through layering up, at a time when others did not.

SKETCHBOOK

FINAL PIECE

For my final piece, I wanted to really home-in on the idea of the comfort that fabrics bring us. The overall concept was inspired by Sarah Lucas' Pauline Bunny. I constructed a figure made out of up-cycled soft and tactile material, using warm fabrics and tones. Using patchwork with added decorative patches and layers, the embroidery on the patches was used to reflect the research I did on Sashiko, a traditional Japanese embroidery method used to repair garments using decorative stitch. Sashiko celebrates the fabric getting stronger rather than hiding the imperfections. I then sewed the patches onto the material with gold thread, referencing Kintsugi, the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery by mending the areas of breakage with lacquer dusted or mixed with powdered gold, silver, or platinum. The final idea was that the user could sit into this piece and have the arms wrapped around them, offering a comforting hug.

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