Imprinted
A project synthesising my tendency to merge art, craft, and design
An exploration in the idea of how we impact our surroundings, and how in turn, they impact us creating imprints on our beings that are abstracted, subdued, and inevitably become a part of our bodies.
I was focused on creating two separate products- furniture and apparel, that can exist as independant pieces, but when put together are able to speak to each other. I intended to cumulate my interests as an artist and designer, creating pieces that fulfill a function and spark a conversation.
Starting with the idea of imprinting on skin, the project developed from a sculptural performance to a piece of functional art that still retained my original intentions.
This is by far the largest project I have worked on till date, with me breaking up the process by ideation, design, and production. Each step was heavily considered in a way that would maximise its value and flow into the next step. I began by finalising the form of the furniture, which moved from a simple chair to a ground-level chaise, which would itself act like a canvas for the clay and the body. This led to me developing the clay imagery I wanted, each of which represents an abstracted snapshot of nature. Simultaneously, I was creating models for the apparel, drafting patterns which were essentially simple, with the details coming through the wet moulding of the clay imagery. I did many tests with samples of leather, to see what thickness, pressure, and details come through best.
Explore the various stages of the design and production process below.
Explore the various stages of the design and production process below.
The naturally developing and semi exploratory process resulted in interesting final results, with pieces that exist in a realm between what we could use everyday and what we would see in a museum.
In a full circle, I returned to the original inspiration of skin imprinting. Several people lent their bodies as a canvas, taking the abstracted images directly onto themselves in a way that allowed themselves to exist as the intermediary between the furniture and fashion. Move around the pictures to see all the explorations
