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LONDON EXHIBITION - PECKHAM

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  This was a small exhibition set up by a group of artists from Westminster Uni at a café. They managed to talk to the man who owns the café & ask if they could present their work there. He said it would be a perfect way to bring people in to the café & to promote his poetry which he creates on the side. They had a room upstairs that had been cleared out for their work, whilst he provided drinks & poetry readings downstairs. These were done by an artist called Erin inspired by Andy Warhol. These are screen printed photos of guys from her university, with them all doing the same pose. This is about repeated patterns, which I think shows the monotonous process of screen printing. She also said it was about masculinity, which is why they are all repeatedly doing the same action. This piece is done by my friend, Abi Dimelow, who predominantly produces paintings of people & children, mixing imagery together to create odd compositions that evoke thought & questions. A lot

THE EXHIBITION

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 MY EXHIBITION SPACE Unfortunately, my camera doesn't work very well but I did manage to take some pictures of them all lined up in the studio space. They definitely work well against the white wall as they all have dark backgrounds. It would have been nice if I could've decorated the space a bit more, possibly with a white curtain, some lights, or a gold circle on the wall to present the larger piece. However, coming up to the end of the year I had ran out of money to spend on my exhibition. I do like how it looks though, & perhaps a busier background would have distracted from the details in the pieces I produced. I think they definitely work well together & compliment each other. The continuous circles express the circle of life, as they are all related to loss. When I see them all together, I can see the progress in design & outcome & overall neatness of the pieces. I gradually got better at working with string & it is clear to see when I look at the rob

PROCESS & OUTCOME - CIRCLES & SKELETON

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THE SKELETON The skeleton originally was a single piece I made for my last project where I began my string work. I hung this up by itself on the wall for the structure exhibition. I decided as it's relevant to this project, I should develop it & use it as part of my final exhibition as it is still one of my favourite pieces. The way I used the string to create bone structure was really pleasing to me. The way it swirled round in the larger sections to fill them to the centre worked really well in dividing the bones up into individual parts, whilst also having a bone-like texture & colour, worked really well.   PROCESS OF THE ORIGINAL SKELETON PIECE: My key interest from the last project was more about seeing the shadow that was created on the wall when it was hung up, as I liked the way it created another skeleton through the small gaps between the 'bones'. However, this as a piece was really small & did not look well developed when it was sat by itself on the w

LINO WITHOUT THE PRINTING

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  For my project, I really wanted to try to create some more lino pieces. I find it really satisfying & therapeutic to do, & I love the contrast between the lines & the solid block colours, which then reveal a pattern or image. I thought some lino prints would look nice below my framed pieces, just to add something different & show the build up to making these framed images. For an exhibition, I want to include various artworks so there is something for everyone to like. Different styles & ways of working appeal to certain people. What one person dislikes, another  might enjoy viewing. I began this by drawing out a bird design onto the lino in pencil, going over it until I was pleased with the image. I also added some flowers as I wasn't keen on the big blank space around the bird. I gave this a free hand frame round the edge so it fit in next to my framed string pieces.  I then used a range of different metal tips on the lino cutting tool which all had differen

PROGRESS & OUTCOME - THE CRANE

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 CRANES ARE A SYMBOL OF GOOD LUCK & A LONG LIFE, THEY ARE KNOWN TO GRANT WISHES.   A woman named Sadako Sasaki became ill in hospital with leukemia after being only two kilometres away from the atomic bomb that was dropped in Hiroshima, which had a very low survival rate at the time. She said that a crane is a sacred bird and lives for 100 years, and that if an ill person folds 1000 paper cranes, they will soon get well again, so she decided to do it herself. Sadako folded over 1000 paper cranes and continued to be strong for her family. Unfortunately in 1955, she died. Many people gathered money to build a monument in her honour and in honour of the many other people who died from the bomb. It is known as the Children's Peace Monument located in the centre of Hiroshima Peace Park, close to the spot the bomb was dropped. The act of folding a crane turned into a national, then international Children's Peace Movement. Children from all around the world send their paper cranes

PROGRESS & OUTCOME - THE BLUEBIRDS

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 BLUEBIRDS ARE A BIBLICAL & SPIRITUAL SYMBOL OF JOY & HOPE, THEY ALSO ARE BELIEVED TO REPRESENT A CONNECTION BETWEEN THE LIVING & THE DEAD. In Native American Mythology, some tribes consider the bluebird to be a spirit in animal form that symbolises the dawn of a new day. Others associate bluebirds with the sun. The tribesmen of Iroquois, they were seen as symbols of good fortune, fertility, & prosperity. They were often seen in spring, meaning they were associated with growth & new beginnings. People from this tribe also believed they fight off the evil demigod of winter, Tawiscaron. This was the bluebird section from my original sketched idea for each piece. I always end up drawing multiple 'thumbnail sketches' so I can properly plan out ideas & gain more inspiration & add things in the process. My first sketch was this one. I wanted the birds to show connection, so I decided I wanted to connect them with string by their beaks, tied in the centre.