I'm a paper doll, you can tear me up

[via Odylyne // tumblr] 

 

Model: Lindsey Wixson

Photographer: Tim Walker  

 

I love the new Mulberry campaign for aw/12, I love all their campaigns in fact, they're always so wonderfully whimsical, and the 'Where the Wild Things Are' theme is a pretty epic one at that.

 

On the theme of being in the woods I quite liked this video of Kyla La Grange for her song 'Vampire Smile'. It's not my usual type of music but strangely I'm hooked. Plus she has ombre hair (like me ^.^) therefore she's nothing less than awesome...

 

Say that I'm changed, say I'm different

[source]

Still intrigued by the themes unpinning my previous post, such as; life, death, decay and preservation. I found this beautiful picture of a hand carved cow skull on weheartit - might do more research into skeletons / bones.

Just decided that 'what lies beneath the skin' would make a pretty cool project title... or not, but I like it.

In and out of love

[ Photography was forbidden within the exhibition but I took this photo in the butterfly room @ Wollaton Hall in Nottingham ]

I went to the Damien Hirst exhibit at the Tate Modern fairly recently. Never shy of controversy, Hirst's butterfly room has become the topic of heated discussion amongst art fans and critics alike. The double-room installation consists of live butterflies growing on canvas in one small, sultry room, and dead butterflies mounted upon lurid paintings in the one opposite. Hirst evokes a macabre sensibility throughout much of his work, and whilst in many respects I find this particular exhibit to be quite cruel, I prevail in an attempt to examine it from an artist's perspective...

 

The exhibit carries underlying connotations on mortality, with the most obvious interpretation being that the fragility of life is comparatively as fine and fleeting as that of a butterfly. The butterflies grow from pupae upon canvas, live for a few days and drop dead to the ground not long after. I find it quite sad that the butterflies growing in this exhibit will know no life outside of captivity, no world away from the prying eye of human curiosity. The only beautiful, albeit poignant, part of this exhibit is that the museum has created the experience of witnessing a cycle of life within it's very walls. 

 

Butterflies have become an ubiquitous insignia within the design industry, featured as prints upon clothing and birthday cards alike. Butterflies are also seen in many cultures as a symbol of freedom, which is ironic in this case as their only escape from this confinement lies in their inevitable death. With the theme of morbidity in mind, it seems the exhibits greater purpose is in fact to encourage us to look back upon ourselves and our own transient existence.

I like to think I'm a force to be reckoned with

Another interesting piece of design I found was at the National Design Museum last year called the Melonia shoe which was the result of a Swedish design collaboration by two students, Naim Josefi and Souzan Youssouf. The shoes were made using a 3D printer which specially crafts the shoes to specific measurements. Due to the nature of production no material is wasted, meaning it's economically and environmentally friendly. I love the futuristic nature of this piece of design and I'm keenly interested in future developments of 3D technology.

 

On a side note, we all know how fashion is a fast-paced industry, highly influenced by culture, new media and technology. And whilst a lot of things become cast aside with time I feel we should invest more in fashion that carries a message, a purpose, that takes into consideration it's influence on the world around us and our impact on the environment. I might be drifting off on a tangent but whilst people talk less about global warming these days it doesn't mean it's gone away, and instead of making things that are simply aesthetically desirable more attention should be drawn towards things like design sustainability and environmentally friendly production techniques. I'm not doing fashion simply because I like clothes, I want people to notice, not me, necessarily, but all the that I believe in. 

 

"For me, what I do is an artistic expression of that which is channelled through me. Fashion is just the medium" - Alexander McQueen.

We're plastic but we still have fun

Soo I've found my second piece of great design - and I loved it so much it had to be mine (hey looket that rhymed :')

 

Wait isn't that just a magazine?? Nope, t'is in fact the most awesomest clutch bag I will ever own. It's made by an online brand called  Paparazzi, who sell an assortment of hard-cover clutch bags designed to look like magazine covers. I love all the reactions I've had on it so far; on first glance people think it's just a fashion mag (and say stuff like "err, why did that girl bring a magazine to a night club?") then as they look a little closer and realise it's a bag there's a moment of sheer over excitement (from both parties) and the night rolls on from there...

 

It's a good feeling to have nice things (geez I sound like an airhead, but really, it is).

I am free but I am flawed

Rose Sanderson @ Unnatural Natural History exhibition - held at the Royal West of England Academy.

Featuring the themes of insects, anatomy, decay and man made surfaces.

[via tumblr] 

"I would rather people feel uneasy about my work than feel nothing at all"

 

I decided to look into another practitioner who inspires me, and this time instead of a fashion designer I chose to research into the current work of fine artist Rose Sanderson. Her work is highly influenced by themes of life and decay - striking a contrast between natural and man made elements. She works predominantly with acrylic paint, implementing the use of old wallpapers, peeling and rubbing away paint and cracking surfaces for her backgrounds. This builds upon her theme of exploring texture from man made products, which works well in contrast with the delicate beauty of her winged subjects.
I'm intrigued by the allure of fading grandeur, of both growth and decay. The way paint drips down her images makes me think of melting wax candles, which in turn summons a melancholy nostalgia for the passing of time. The ghostly shadow of a print emerging from the background would make a beautiful print transferred onto fabric. Fading ornate prints, combined with bird and butterfly motifs, layered through textured fabrics would make nice foundation for a future project.

I WANT HER OUTFIT... that is all.

[source]

A wolf in sheep's clothing

Photography by Eleanor Hardwick.
i own nothing.

Meadham Kirchoff  are my ultimate favourite design duo, purely because of their fearlessness. For their SS'12 collection they drew inspiration from the idea of what little girls are expected to be in contrast with who they are. Sugar spice and all thinks nice - earmarking the collection in the form of feathers, glitter, crochet lace, pretty pastels and quirky motifs. A figure of inspiration for their collection was Marie Antoinette; a woman who lived a life of beauty, drama and excess, and who knew what it was like to live under mass expectations of her nation. There's so much pressure within society to act and be a certain way, wherever you go there is always an underlying expectation to look 'pretty'. And I feel that whilst we may embrace this, we should also find a way to make it our own.

 

This collection embodies a more eccentric perception of their theme, which although quite different from my personal design style, I find highly captivating. The pair continue to succeed at creating feminine, yet edgy and outlandish pieces, complete with a wild sense of colour and humour. Looking through their previous collections they display a great sense of design devlopment as they continue to embark along the fashion frontline. 

Letting everyone down, would be my greatest unhappiness

[All images via weheartit.com]

Another Sophia Coppola film, j'adore.

It's like staring through the looking glass to this beautiful world lost in time. Set in a time and place I'll never truly experience, but losing myself in film is the closest I'll come to it. From the glorious Parisian architecture, spring time tapestries, six-tiered cakes, masquerade balls, horse drawn carriages, ornate candelabras laden with melted wax, brocade bustles and overflowing ruffles, it's hard not to feel enchanted by Marie Antoinette and her life of excess.

Lenticular horse card

Soo I decided to step things up, and make a youtube channel!

*que tumbleweed*
Um okay, I was expecting applause, but whatever. 

One of the tasks on my design list is to post about two pieces of great design that I've found (could be anything from a photograph, to a piece of quirky ephemera, to any sort of three dimensional art thingymabob).

Anywhoo, I came across this lovely little card shop in South Kensington when I went to London last week and I purchased this thing called a lenticular postcard. It was made using a specialised lenticular lens to create the illusion of depth within an image which appears to move when viewed at different angles. It's still a developing technology but it's come a long way since the 1940s when it was first created. It's absolutely amaze-balls - if it's possible I'd love to have some lenticular fabric made up for one of my future fashion projects ^.^

I looked for idea-a-day.com (one of the other tasks on the list) but the site's currently down. From what I can tell it's about little ideas that could improve everyday life, so killing two birds with one stone here I'd love it if it were possible to develop a fabric holding a moving image - without the use of video projectors or smoke & mirrors - an actual fabric hybrid. Or in the least, maybe a fabric that changes colour depending on your mood. I know heat sensitive fabrics were a trend in the nineties and that didn't really catch on but I know of a dress designed by Lucy McRae (whose like my idol, no, seriously) called the Bubelle dress which uses biometric sensors that pick up on a persons emotions and projects them as colours along the outer-layer of the dress. Here's a link to a (super cheesy but nonetheless informative) video about her newest creations. I don't know if ideas like these would improve any body's quality of life per say, which I guess is idea-a-day.com underlying ethos, but I think it would open a gateway to greater developments in the future which is something I find really exciting.


(p.s. I apologise if the amount of times I say the word "like" in this video bothers anybody, I'm just like really like excited and stuff :P like.)

Photobooth fail

This is my self portrait, although I'm not entirely happy with it. I wanted to show various different sides of my personality and I don't feel this has captured 'me' fully. I was inspired by a photo shoot of Elle Fanning for LOVE magazine spring '11, which I believe was originally inspired by this photobooth series of Edie Sedgwick, taken by Gerard Malanga, 1966.

I guess part of the reason I was drawn to the photobooth idea is because I'm pretty indecisive as a person and taking just one shot, expressing one mood, wouldn't be enough for me. I decided to edit my selection down and just picked four images to display as a strip in the style of another traditional photobooth print, which I think works better than before, especially with the black border, but I'm still not entirely content. I really love photography, it's one of my strongest skills and I don't quite feel this showcases my talent fully so I think I'll shoot another self-portrait later on.

 

-   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -    -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -

{Elle Fanning for LOVE magazine source one and two.}

Sometimes I think we don't exist

-  b y  C h r i s   L i t t l e  -

{via weheartit}

One of the tasks on the design list was to pick a practitioner I admire and a picture of theirs I most relate to and explain why.

Chris Little is an established US-based freelance photographer. I was drawn to this particular image of his for several reasons... To begin with it's beautifully captured, even with all colourful confetti (which may just be splattered paint, but I like to think it's confetti) raining down, your eyes are immediately drawn to the subject in the centre. Despite all the beautiful colours, which one would usually relate to a feeling of joy or elation (perhaps as if a celebration were in progress) the subject appears unmoved by it all, potentially in awe, or perhaps simply lost in the haze. The stillness of her character is surprisingly evocative, enough so to challenge the mood of the entire image. She almost appears detached from reality, which is something I guess I can relate to.

I WANT HER HAIR... that is all.

[source]

The Virgin Suicides

[All images via weheartit.com]

I love this movie more than words can describe. But I think that's the beauty of Sofia Coppola films, everything that's said without words. The visual quality is impeccable but it's that profound, almost eerie stillness she builds, communicating thoughts and feelings that almost seem ineffable. The ending's obviously quite tragic, but I always find myself left with a sort of dull numbing feeling after I watch it, like I've been affected in some strange way my mind can't fluently comprehend. Then I blink and suddenly I'm awake again and it's like I dreamt the whole thing.

Ballgowns exhibition at the V&A

I visited the V&A ballgowns exhibition yesterday. It was all so very pretty. Mhmm that's right, pretty.
I admire the elegance of the couturier gowns and how the exhibition showcased the evolution of style through time. But whilst the dresses were nice, my favourite part of the exhibition was the black & white film loop projected on the wall. I love black and white films, there's a sense of fading grandeur and old world charm to them. At the time it was made film was so new, now technology is so easily accessible I feel we take it for granted. Though even in the fast-paced world we live in there remains a sort of timelessness surrounding black and white films, they're special.

[source]

As I continued to walk round I became rather drawn to the gowns on the upper balcony - a selection of dresses from fashion's a-team of contemporary designers. I think the reason I felt more drawn to these dresses is because they were on open-air display, not concealed behind glass like the rest. They felt more accessible, more familiar, being part of the world I've grown up in I guess. One that caught my eye in particular was a dress by Felicity Brown SS/11 (featured centre). I found the hand-dyed silk ruffles cascading down the dress purely mesmerising. The flowing lines create an heir of sophistication, whilst on closer inspection the unfinished edges and high-low layering provide a more youthful / edgy aesthetic.

Gripped with a bitter fear // places I have ideas post

I took these photos last year - with the magic of self-timer and baby powder ^.^  

On my other blog I do mainly photography experiments and outfit posts so I thought I would share a part of that here with you... I like taking photos out in the woods and venturing to secluded places. Crowded spaces scare me, I don't like the feeling that other people are watching me... apart from when I'm on stage and it's like I'm part of another world entirely, like suddenly I'm alive in someone else's skin and I'm (me, myself) virtually untouchable, because I don't have to exist as myself for a while, if that makes sense. I guess most of my inspiration comes from film; I can be immersed in another world, much like our own, but running at a different pace of time, full of grandiose people and places I'll never really know.

"It's like you're homesick for a place that doesn't exist."

- Garden State.

Inside Harry Potter Studios

When I was twelve I'd sit by the letter box every day waiting for my letter to arrive. What letter? My admission to Hogwarts of course! But I guess the owl must have got lost somewhere...

I love all things wizarding and wonderful, so visiting the the studios where the Harry Potter series was filmed was like a dream come true for me. You'd think looking behind the scenes, (what with all the robots, green screens and prosthetic heads) would steal away some of the magic, but it enabled me to appreciate the smallest details and craftsmanship all the more.

Drawing inspiration directly from what I saw; I could develop print patterns from the tapestries in the Gryffindor common room, look at texture from the embossed stone and metal carvings around the castle. I could source embellishment from the crystal chandeliers and starlit ceiling in the great hall, or even take ques directly from the costumes themselves. Even though this isn't listed a conventional gallery as such, it artfully displays a collection of articles which evoke a deep sense of personal interest for me. Harry Potter was a big part of my childhood and the idea of bringing a fantasy world to life, through film or fashion feels really exciting.

A topic my artwork has centred around in the past is that of "the human condition"- which, in short, explores the shared concerns of human existence through fields such as psychology, sociology, theology (aaand a whole lot of other ology's). From an existentialist standpoint this includes shared human concerns with one's own sense of purpose, loneliness, love, freedom and mortality. There's a vast array of sub-themes surrounding the matter but what I'm most intrigued by is our individual perception of what defines reality. Magic, for one, can be used as a way of escaping the confines of our own disbelief, a way of experiencing the impossible, which is what I try to embody through much of my artwork. I want what I create to empower people, to make them feel like they're living out a dream.

“Just because something is happening inside your head doesn't mean its not real.”

- Albus Dumbledore.