To kick off the new project we've had MMU grad and textiles artist, Angela Davies, come and speak to us in our weekly meeting. Her work is stunning, it's that simple. She looks at collections and installations, focusing on the landscape, and very cleverly adapting materials such as papers and lace as tracing methods of the land's contours 'mapping space, mapping place, mapping time'
http://www.angeladaviesartist.co.uk
Our current unit, Locating is all about connections/ thinking about where we want to go in industry. So how did Angela get to where she is today? It appears that she didn't know how to reach goal alike to may of us on the course now, deciding to follow a path of creativity that meant one thing led to another, and so on. A massive point that was mentioned was the push to create connections and opportunities, it's not about what you know, it's about who you know.
I absolutely adore Angela's use of lace (featured above photograph). The use of lace in general and the patterns that can be found in them, it is such a delicate material, not something that can be easily manipulated. I really like the effect of placing light onto the lace, and looking at the markings and use of layering that become apparent.
Her work reminds me of another big influence to me, another MMU grad, Julia Jowett, who uses lace and wire to create the most beautiful and intricate pieces of work, adapting the materials into beautiful motifs. I am wanting to use these two ladies for my initial artist researches. They both interest me for their neutral colour palettes and use of what looks like stitch through lace. As I am going to be looking at jewellery for my personal briefs, it would be interesting to look at the markings that can be discovered by looking at how light can effect material objects.
