Final Major Project - Work Placement

Okay, so this is my very last project in college EVER!!
So to mark the occasion I wanted to come out of my comfort zone a little and do something a bit more challenging. Something that I would have to make completely from scratch.

The brief for this project was to create a piece of work that revolved around or included ideas from a work placement of our own choice. For a long time now I have wanted to make a dress out of glass, so I thought the best place for me to go would be a wedding dress shop. I chose one close to where I live. My aim there was to get stuck in to anything and everything they gave e to do whilst taking as many photographs as possible so I had a strong portfolio of primary research. (I couldn't take any of the other equipment I would usually use for primary research just in case I marked any of the dresses)

Primary Research - The Wedding Shop

Experiments

After finishing my placement it was time to start my experiments. I decided that glass was a little too adventurous as we don't have the facilities in college to create my glass corset, so I had to come up with other materials that I thought would be strong but still transparent.
1. Resin
Resin is completely clear, dries hard, and to me, resembles glass very well. I made a mould of a torso (mannequin) out of mod rock, (plaster and material) left it to dry, and pulled it off the mannequin. I then poured the resin in to the mould. As the resin is so thin, it all ran straight to the bottom, this made the sides of the mould extremely thin and the bottom extremely thick. Also the resin sank into the plaster.

I tried again but this time I lined the mould with cling-film so it wouldn't sink in. This worked much better but still wasn't what I wanted because it was very hard to control where the resin went.

The mould, cling-film lining and resin.

The resin cast/corset.

2. Cling-Film

The resin didn't work so I decided to make a cling-film mould. The main reason for this was because it is clear. I layered strips of cling-film over the mannequin and then used a heat gun to melt/shrink the film tightly over the surface. 

I really liked the outcome of this but it wont be strong enough for my finished piece.

3. Bio-Plastics

The resin and cling-film corset didn't work so, it was back to the drawing board. I decided to explore plastics. I melted plastic bottles but it was hard to keep it hot enough to manipulate and shape.

After some research I found that you could make your own plastic with house hold ingredients. This is called Bio-Plastic, and it is made up of only four ingredients:
. Water
. Distilled vinegar (clear vinegar)
. Glycerine
. Corn Flour

You can create the plastic with different measurements but I used:

. 7 Parts Water
. 1 part Vinegar
. 1 Part Glycerine
. 1.5 Parts Corn Flour
All you do is add the ingredients together in a pan (in no particular order, just all at once) and on a medium setting start to heat it up. The mixture takes will look like milk but as it heats up, it soon turns to a clear, glue like texture, this is when you know it is ready to use. As it is made from all edible ingredients, it is not harmful to handle (just be careful of the heat) I applied the plastic over the mannequin with a metal spoon and once it had cooled down a little I used my hands. Also, this WON'T damage any pans you use as it all washes off with warm water.

Ingredients.

I would advise you to cover any surface you are applying the plastic to with kitchen/baking foil. Just to be on the safe side and so you know it wont stick to anything. (this isn't necessary if you are making a cast just if your making a mould).

Test Piece

Mannequin, Foil, Plastic.

As the plastic dries out it shrinks, which would be fine if I was making a CAST, but I am making a MOULD so the plastic started to break and split.
Overall, this really didnt work out how I wanted it to.

Exhibition Space
Whilst working on our final pieces, we where still looking for an exhibition space. After looking around we decided on The Liver Building-Liverpool.

As a class we visited the space to see where we could display our work. Here are my possible exhibiting spaces.

 Final Design
So the last idea I had to make this work was to create the corset out of wire. I sculptured the corset from the mannequin, once I had made the basic shape I took it off to discover that finally it was strong enough!

Glass

 I moved straight onto the glass part of my dress. I collected lots of broken glass and glued it all over the top of the corset. I put a layer of silver foil at the back so that the glass had a flat surface to be glued to and also to mirror the glass. At the very top of the corset I set the glass on its side so that the sharp edges faced up. for the rest of the bust I glued it down flat. This was not only for texture or design, but also just to make my piece that little bit more interesting.

 Feathers
The last part of the corset was to apply the feathers. On the wire structure I added thinner wire so there was more surface for the feathers to be stuck on. I began to glue on the feathers individually. By the time I was done it worked out to be over 1500 feathers!

The Skirt

I wanted the skirt to blend in with the corset, I created it so the feathers to slowly disappeared. I added strands of fishing wire to create the skirt. Finally, I put on glass beads and pieces of broken mirror.
I curled the ends of the excess fishing wire which made the skirt look more 'full'.

From underneath 

 The Final Piece

 As you can see here I also added glass to the back of the corset.

The ExhibitionSetting up the Exhibition

My work is up!!
As you can see from these photographs I have placed a mirror behind it so my audience can see the back of the dress without walking around it. ( there isn't enough room to walk around it as I am in a corner). I am extremely happy with how it has turned out and my exhibition space is perfect!

Artist Comment

Name: Salli-Louise Johnson

Title: Swan Lake

Materials: Glass, Wire, Plastic, Feathers (Mixed Media)

Statement: For this piece I have gathered inspirations from a work placement I attended at 'The Wedding Rooms' Formby. For a while now I have wanted to make a dress/corset out of glass but haven't known where to start. Whilst working and gathering research at my placement, my ideas altered tremendously until I create this final design.

Later this year I will be attending the University of Falmouth to pursue a BA Honours in Fine Art.

 I was able to put my final piece for the Competition project in too. (you can see my post about this project further down).
Artist Comment
Name: Salli-Louise Johnson
Title: A New Look On Nature
Materials: Oils, Wire, Organic Materials (Mixed Media)
Statement: I have based my ideas around this years brief for the John Ruskin Competition, it's title is 'A NEw Look On Nature'. The paint and organic materials represent my studies and close inspections of tree bark, where as the wire leaf was added to create the contrast of an overall look on nature. I have not yet entered the competition.
Later this year I will be attending the University of Falmouth to pursue a BA Honours in Fine Art.

 As I was about to leave the sun I went to check my work one last time and found that the sun was shining through the window behind my work. It lit up the dress and created really nice shadows on the floor. I tried my best to capture this.

The Exhibition went really well. My whole class received really good feed back and reviews. I think this was the perfect way to end my two years in college! Now I'm just have to look forward to September...