Corset

“Textile artists have created pieces inspired by surface and texture. After seeing the work of Jenni Joule, a student at Bath Spa University, at the Stroud International Textiles Festival, I was inspired by the structure and construction of fabrics. This interest was further developed through a visit to Art in Action. I will explore and experiment with textiles, creating a piece influenced by textiles and structure in the natural environment”.

I made a corset for my final piece. The age-old themes ideas associated with corsetry are those of the ‘ideal’, constriction, and restraint. I will take inspiration for the embellishment from structural forms within the natural environment, such as the caves I photographed in Portugal, which juxtapose the control and force of the corset. I found it very inspirational, and came to base a large part of my project on this.

I took part in a workshop led by the textile artist Corinne Hockley, in which she demonstrated how to make a paper corset.

I used the pattern making practice, ‘moulage’, to create the pattern for my corset, directly imitating and fitting it to the shape of the mannequin. I was inspired by the collaborations of the Studio Seven textile artists, aiming to make the audience involved, rather than being passive receivers of art.

The ‘Make Do & Mend’ exhibition I visited was an insight into how textiles can be used to create a piece of art rather than a product or ferment for a function within textiles. I intend to combine elements of performance to bring my piece to the audience. I will work with a dancer wearing the corset to experiment with different themes and ideas, and how we could portray these. The setting will be important and influential – for example being outside could reflect the use of the natural environment, and, on the other hand, being in a small area could demonstrate constraint.