Emilia Powe

Overall, my project has run so smoothly. I chose “beach and coast” for the title of my project where I would explore aspects of the beach and ‘translate’ them into textiles using fabric manipulation, embroidery and painting onto fabric etc.

I started with my initial research which really helped me get inspired and create ideas for future experimentation. I did some speed drawings (taken from when we did visual communication speed illustrations) all inspired by what came into my mind when thinking about the beach. I then went to the beach and gathered photographs of inspiring objects I found and brought some things back with me too, to attach to some samples and use within my work.

All of my 6 artists, I had chosen, I really loved their style but four out of the six (Alexander McQueen, Shelly Rhodes, Carolyn Saxby and Fiona Hutchison) really caused me to flourish when it came to my final piece because of how beautiful my interpretations of them came out, I just had to include them in my panels along with an image that I drew in my very first initial research, which was a continuous line, I ended up doing a couple of textiles samples of it, then I refined it, and it ended up fitting in perfectly with my corset. It actually turned out to be the middle panel which really blended the sand to the sea story aspect of the corset together so well.

The studio days also really helped me design my final piece because I discovered cyanotypes on fabric! This was perfect for me because I ended up using all the objects I had collected from the beach, for the cyanotypes so I ended up creating some proper Anna Atkins original type cyanotypes which I just HAD to include in my final piece. I developed the cyanotype panel by adding strips on top, and beading, giving an abstract feel to it, I think that went really well and I’ve never seen that done before, as well as the fact that this then added more experimentation to my final piece!

When it comes to the final result of my final piece, I wish the fit of the garment had more shape, when coming to the waist, I wanted it to fit more. I could have done that by adding waist tape to cinch in the panels, and also I would have added a lining to the inside to make the interior more tidy, maybe if I used an actual pattern for a corset I wouldn’t have that problem but since I used the most basic shape, it didn’t create any curves.

Before it came to designing, maybe I should have researched designers who had made corsets and also just different types of corset so I could’ve come up with more varied designs and also an open mind to being more extravagant and expressive. But I didn’t want to over complicate myself and end up not having enough time to finish, so I went in with a more practical approach.

My final piece still has a really nice flow to it, almost like a timeline or a story because it blends in from the sea, to the sand, to the sea and sea life at the end (back of the corset(cyanotype))which I’m really happy with.

All the materials I used, I had bought myself because I was so dedicated and passionate about this project and I hope that my work demonstrates that to the examiners.