WORD AND IMAGE

SUMMER WORK

For our summer work and introduction to the module we were to pick a pice of prose and make a 'soundscape' influenced by it and then finally use that to create some abstract artworks.

I chose the poem The Goose and The Common which is an English orally transmitted poem from the 18th century by an unknown author. I first read it in Suzanne Collin's Sunrise on the Reaping and thought that the repetition, rhyme and theme would inspire me. It's themes being that of social injustice caused by the rich taking land/privatisation of land. I only focused on a few lines of the poem to not overcomplicate it:

"The law locks up the man or woman

Who steals the goose from off the common

But leaves the greater villain loose

Who steals the common from the goose.

The law demands that we atone
When we take things we do not own
But leaves the lords and ladies fine

Who take things that are yours and mine."

I do think my soundscape matches the atmosphere the poem creates however my audio leads to being more 'foley' than I would like, it is also pretty jarring to listen to but I think that matches the message of the poem. 

^Here is the work I made based on the audio. 

I decided to make two as my audio has a dramatic change midway so thought it would communicate better this way. I tried to take Gary's advice of not being figurative but it was difficult to suddenly transform as an illustrator in that way so there are some obvious shapes that represent the sounds, like the bird shape to represent geese squawking and droplets for the rain sounds. Next time I will try to be less obvious. However overall, as a first attempt I do really like how it turned out and I think the multimedia black and white complements the sound.

ABSTRACT NARRATIVE

THE WEREWOLF- INITIAL RESEARCH

^My chosen text

^Group findings

^After reading the text I made note of all the imagery which was what initially drew me to focusing on it, this way I could easily create a mood board of the 'visual cultures' that I associate with it. 

^ My Visual Moodboard inspired by the text

I get a very medieval, witchy, gothic vibe which I think is very recognisable and easy to convey- so it makes me wonder how far can my illustration be pushed towards abstraction where it is still obviously based around The Werewolf?  I needed to do more research into the context and themes of the text or else my work will not be informed enough to make good decisions around processes to use and what semiotics might be useful.

^Context, Themes and some Initial Ideas

^ Notes from group tutorials

Talking with Phil, Gary and other people who had my text was helpful as made me realise that I would like to focus on the witch trials and how they were rooted in misogyny. My interpretation from the text is that at the end the girl takes over the grandmothers role as a witch by moving into her house, so I would also like to focus on female generations and traditions that could be passed down. This made me think of practical art and craft skills like quilting and sewing which were passed down generations aurally- similarly to how stories such as little red riding hood were. 

^One of my quilts- Originally started by my Grandma finished by my mum and the out edge drawn by me when I was little.

FURTHER RESEARCH

During my research I discovered that there is a big link between witchcraft and quilting as certain patterns can represent Neo-Pagan and Wiccan beliefs as well being made as spells for specific purposes. For example-

• The Lone Star quilt pattern is a symbol of the sun and the eight points represent the eight solar sabbats (pagan festivals)
• The Log Cabin, 9, and 4 square patterns represent the harmony of light and dark (The girl and the wolf?)
• The Dresden Plate will protect anyone who sleeps under it
• The Pine Tree quilt will bless you with new beginnings 

^Quilt patterns that could link to witchcraft 

I also found an interesting link between quilting and telling narratives. "Traditional quilts follow deeply coded patterns that communicate much more than comfort and artistry. A quilt’s surface can often be “read” through linguistic and graphic cues." "They enabled women to speak the truth about their lives by joining many disparate fragments, which when read together make a specific and often subversive utterance." https://lithub.com/what-quilting-and-embroidery-can-teach-us-about-narrative-form/

Most quilts begin in the centre and are pieced together outwards as the story unfolds which could be an interesting way to tell my story.

^Cool abstract quilts that caught my eye!

 Other bits

^Witches marks-  Marks that were usually scribed onto stone/woodwork near buildings entrance to ward off and protect from witches and evil spirits. Could be interesting semiotics/symbol to incorporate?

WORKSHOPS

NARRATOLOGY 

^Lecture notes

^Annotated text- different POVs/narratives I could do

^Story Rhythm Graph

This workshop was helpful in helping me figure out the pacing of my story and realising that I could narrate my abstract work from many perspectives (1st, 2nd and 3rd) and from different characters. It introduced the idea of possibly doing a dual narrative from the girl and the wolf/grandmother's POV which I think could be very effective.

COMPOSITION FOR STORYTELLING

^ My 10 panels based on Ernest Hemingway's short story based on the execution of 6 greek cabinet ministers. I enjoyed this workshop as I got me thinking about shifting perspectives I could possibly use from straight on to overhead angles, which makes it more dynamic and interesting. However this isn't a very good example of abstract thinking as I literally just replaced the characters with shapes. 

^Based on this workshop I did some thumbnails for my own text. I tried to incorporate some elements from my research.

SPRAY PAINTING

^ This is meant to be the wolf trying to attack the girl. I really don't like it as it is way too obvious and figurative but I enjoyed the method and the effect of overlaying colours.

SEMIOTICS CUT UP TECHNIQUE

^ For this workshop we cut up pieces of text and changed it's meaning by replacing parts or words. I liked the idea of having one part of text having multiple meanings and changing, so I used paper mechanics to make pull tabs. I did one version with normal text sizes but then I realised it was a bit boring so I shrunk and distorted the text for the second version. I liked playing around with the idea of transformation as I think It relates very closely to my text.

IMAGE AND TEXT WORKSHOP

^ I think this was the most successful piece from the workshop, I like how the word lolloping 'lollops' itself and how the text layout has an almost children's book vibe relating to how my story is based on little red riding hood.

^ experimented with distorting it through the photocopier

^ A different part of my text- It reads They have cold weather. They have cold hearts. It's meant to emulate a completely snowy day. This made my question whether the introduction of unreadable text might be interesting for my project.

DRAWING SYSTEMS WORKSHOP

^ Creating a manifesto that I had to abide by was helpful in discovering a new way of working and I really like my outcomes from this workshop. Although I didn't stick to all my manifesto points due to time constraints (mainly the dual narrative parts), I used most of them to create a more informed abstract piece. I did all of it with my left hand as It was meant to be from the wolf's perspective (his right paw gets cut off) and included parts from my research on quilting: 

• The flower shape is a grandmother's sunburst quilt to represent the grandma's house but also a dreamcatcher as she is asleep in this scene 
• I used repeating imagery of the lone star quilt meant to represent witchcraft and the 8 holidays they celebrate. 

I also used illegible text which a peer said looked like runes which could be a new point of research. If I was to continue this I would have done parts with my right hand for the girl's POV and to introduce the dual narrative.

ARTIST RESEARCH  

Mostly visual inspo!

^ Vivian Suter- Disco. Textile inspo I like how it's reminiscent of a landscape and is a very immersive experience, I could hang up my work? Possibly in different environments and photograph it?

^ Louise Bourgeois- Ode A L'Oubli -Interesting fabric book with quilt, I like the very graphic abstract squares.

^ Peter Blake- Some of the sources of Pop Art- Quite figurative but cool arrangement and even though all all the images are so different it works together, it reminds me of a quilt.

^ Miesje Chafer- Printed textiles quilted together, I like the composition and the choice of colours.

^ Gee Bend's Quilts- Lucy Mingo- Made by a group of women and their ancestors and are made by starting quite basic then following artistic intuition to stitch unexpected patterns and colours.

^ Micheal James- I like how much detail he's added after the patchwork piecing process just by quilting

^ Micheal James- Another work by this artist I like the colour choice and arrangement of quilt squares makes it seem like it's telling a linear story

EXPERIMENTS AND RESEARCH

^ Elder Futhark Runes are the earliest runic alphabet used by germanic people in the 2nd to 8th century- I think It could be cool to incorporate some of this into my work especially as some of the simplified meanings are super relevant. I also think that runes are often associated with a magical element which links.

^ Experiments with runes

After my pecha kucha I took some time to reflect on my work and Phil's advice. Phil suggested making narrative abstract landscapes and leaning in to my usual system of making and drawing. 

^So I produced these, both meant to be the whole story on one page... but I didn't like them much, small parts of the page are okay but as a whole it's difficult to read. However it did help me identify which symbols were important for me to use.

To further explore this idea of using representative symbols I split my text into 77 sections and tried to draw something for each segment, I think what I did do is interesting  and helpful to come up with ideas for possible quilt squares but I found the process much too restrictive and it's difficult to create something when very little is happening, so I moved on. 

All of these little symbols combined with how my story is about a journey got me thinking about maps and the symbols used in them. 

^ OS Map symbols

^ My own map and key 

^ More completed 'map'

I thought that this would work as the first part of the text for when the mother is describing her journey to her. With a new confidence in my drawing I created some other parts of the story. 

^ Her knowing the forest and not fearing it armed with her sword (the arrow- rune for strength) and her gifts (the X- rune for gift).

^ Meeting the wolf it's howling and in the centre of the forest (lines inspired by map contour lines)

As experiments, I like these drawings but they are quite figurative still and I felt like I was drifting from quilting/patchwork and domestic arts which I still wanted to be the main process of my narrative. 

^ For each drawing I made a quilt square design. I actually enjoyed this process and think it could be helpful in making my final outcome, what I have created so far is from the girls perspective so I think I should create with imagery from the wolves perspective and convert it into a quilt. 

I have realised that I would like to sew a double sided 6 patch quilt with the two sides being the different POVs. I think it would be better if I made it more graphic and simple by sewing the details in instead of drawing/painting them.

^ Experiments with a more graphic style of patchwork

PLANNING

^ Planning stage- I realised that my idea of making it double sided wouldn't work logistically as quilting onto one side would ruin the other side, so instead I decided to sew them as one 12 panel quilt with borders around each POV so separate them- you will also be able to fold the quilt in half for the same effect. I used many of my previous sketches and drawings to help come up with ideas for the patchwork blocks.

PROCESS PICTURES

FINAL

^ Double Page Spreads

EVALUATION

For this module I chose the text ‘werewolf’ by Angela Carter. I was drawn to it because of its vivid imagery and dark gothic aesthetic. It's a twisted version of Little Red Riding Hood; it has references to witchcraft and religion and unlike the original story the Girl is presented as being a strong unafraid character. I was interested in the final line where the girl inherits her grandmothers' belongings and most likely the role of the town witch. This got me thinking of traditions and arts/crafts that would’ve been passed down generations similarly to how the story of Red Riding Hood aurally was. This is how I started researching into quilting and its link to narrative stories and witches. 

I knew early on I wanted to make a patchwork quilt, something I have never done before, as my final 12 panel outcome but getting there was difficult as I consider myself a figurative illustrator. The best method I discovered was starting drawings based on the text and my many routes of research then subtracting elements from them, some of my drawings were slightly figurative but when a small part was extracted and transferred into a textile it became something different and less obvious. Originally, I intended on painting on top of my quilt, but I wanted the story to remain simple and clear like the original little red riding hood, so I kept it graphic. I chose a limited colour palette to not overcomplicate things- I knew I had to use black and white for this creepy tale and red had too many meanings and relationships with the text to pass up on. The red helps to make key points of conflict stand out which makes the quilt easier to read. 

 

On the first read you may think of the girl as the victim, but she is the one who prospers in the end whereas the grandma loses everything- this made me realise that the text can be interpreted differently depending on the character focus so I decided to tell the story from two points of view. The quilt is split in half following the different characters- I am glad I did this as it allowed me to use repeated motifs but altered to show the difference in perspective, however I think that I could’ve done more to emphasise this, maybe for example making the grandmothers’ more messy as she is the one struggling.  

 

For the type and spreads portion of the module, I made each based on one side of the quilt and chose parts of the text that related the most to their characters journey. I took pictures of the quilt hung up outside in a forest as I liked the idea of it as an immersive piece and hand wrote the text as choosing a font felt too modern-day for this story. I made the text block disjointed to show that there are missing parts to it and that the reader isn’t getting the full story.   

IMAGE BY IMAGE REFLECTION

The first square in my quilt represents the journey the girl is about to embark on and introduces the narrative structure to the viewer. It has 5 patches showing the 5 mile trudge through the forest, the tones each getting darker as she progresses- as does the story. The quilt pattern is called a log cabin which has meanings relating to the light/dark and the good/bad which I thought was an apt beginning, as it heavily relates to the theme. To add texture I quilted contour lines on top making it clearer that this is meant to be a map of her journey to come. 

The second square shows the forest from a 1st person perspective, the girl is described as knowing the forest and not being afraid so the light pieces piercing through the dark and lighting the way is meant to reflect this. I used the same fabrics from the previous square to connect the narrative which I try and do throughout. I want the viewers to think of alternative meanings these shapes might have for example they also look a lot like cage bars- perhaps the girl is walking into a trap?

This square introduces colour to the quilt: red for danger and blood. It's a jump in the narrative flow as the girl suddenly attacks the wolf with her knife- the stripes are meant to represent a slicing motion. This sudden change in pace is due to how quickly I imagine the wolf jumps at her. To add detail and texture I both quilted and embroidered the red lines. I want the viewer to realise that conflict has begun.

This is a lone star quilt pattern- I have used it as a symbol for the grandmother/wolf as it is an important shape in witchcraft/paganism as each point represents one of their solar sabbats. This square is meant to show how the wolf and the grandmother are one, the white being grandmother and the grey being the wolf- I want the viewers to realise this. The red is to signal she is injured and I embroidered the nordic rune for strength on the edge emphasising how the girl was strong to injure her. I quilted half contour lines around the shape to link back to the first panel and show how the characters are now in the deepest part of the forest (as it is plain black) and story.

This cross quilt square is for the part of the text where the girl crosses herself and screams out and her neighbours come running to kill the grandmother. All the shapes and lines converge in the middle conveying the multiple attacks on the werewolf. It also signifies the grandmothers death and her gravestone. This is the most red used in this part of the quilt so I want the viewers to realise that this is an important climax moment.

This is the last image from the girl's perspective. It is all white linking back to the middle square of the first image meaning she is now home and safe again although this time in a different location at her grandmothers house surrounded by grey contour lines and the nordic rune for possession and heritage. The choice of red for these symbols shows how the danger hasn't completely disappeared as she could be the next to be persecuted for being a witch. I wanted the viewers to assume that her story isn't finished from this square.

The 7th Image is the start of the Grandmother's story/perspective. This quilt block is fittingly called a granny square so thought it was perfect for the switch in character. It is similar to the first square in that it depicts the forest but this time it is reversed because the Grandmother/Wolf starts in the centre of the forest so it gets lighter as it extends to the edges. I want this square, like the first one, to introduce the setting and narrative to the viewer.

This image is very different from the previous as it is the quickly paced moment where the wolf attacks the girl. The triangles could be inferred as teeth and a mouth or as spikes going towards the girl. It also looks like a sideways red pine tree which could denote the forest turning into a battlefield. This is up to interpretation from the viewer. This panel is very contradictory in terms of colour scheme and simplicity compared to the rest of the quilt because I really wanted it to stand out due to this part of the text being the cause of the whole story.

The 9th square is after the wolf gets attacked and lollops away leaving a trail of blood behind it. Something about the trail shapes path reminds me of the word lolloping. This is probably my favourite square just because I like the contrast of the roundness of the blood trail and the rough rectangular trees, I also hand stitched red thread above the trail for extra detail and quilted around it so it is slightly risen. I want the viewer to follow this trail into the next panel.

This quilt square contains another repeated motif of the lone star representing the grandmother but compared to the previous one this shows how she is in a fretful sleep, I used the interlocking spiral to display this because it reminds me of being in a state of hypnosis/ a deep sleep. The two different colours are also her two personas intertwined with each other red for the werewolf and black for her as a witch. I want the viewers to also feel hypnotised by this image and join the grandmother in her possessed state.

The penultimate image in this quilt is a fractured version of the second image, showing the grandmother's 1st person perspective as she gets driven out and beaten to the edge of the forest. I added the same quilted lines for the attack on her as the 5th image. I think this use of repetition further emphasises how the two POVs of the same story are really different and I want it to have the effect of making the viewers feeling sympathy for the grandmother and have a better understanding of the story.

The final image in my quilt is the grandmother's death it is plain black because she is gone and really wanted something simple to denote that. However I did embroider some red cross stitches into the corner to symbolise the lingering emotion of anger she has left behind possibly in the reader or in the girl. I want it to be clear that her story is over for the viewers so this is the one square I didn't go over and quilt.