Assignment 5: Reflection

This part of the course was one I was really looking forward to because textiles was my strong point in school and I really enjoyed doing it. However, issues in my personal life meant that i couldn’t enjoy this part as much as I’d hoped. In school, I created my own textile for the final piece of one of the projects which required me to use all kind of techniques from applique to batik so I was able to use previous knowledge. It would have been good to go to some galleries and find some textile based artworks. Unfortunately, due to current circumstances I wasn’t able to go to any.

I really enjoyed many parts of this course, especially sustainability and handmade artwork. Since becoming vegan at the beginning of the year, I have been trying to find more sustainable clothing and everyday items such as a toothbrush. Handmade craft is important to me because my mum and my nan both make things using knitting or crochet techniques so the creativity has been passed down to me. I also really enjoyed researching and admiring Christian Boltanski’s ‘Personnes’. It’s incredible to see how he transformed the space he had into a much deeper meaning. I imagine you get the chills when entering the exhibition and continue to walk through, especially hearing the heartbeat echo through the room.

For my assignment, I chose to look at a functional textile within a public space. I really struggled to get started on my assignment and the deadline kept creeping closer. My mental health took a toll and I literally had no motivation to do anything. So I was happy to be able to finish it even though it took longer than it should have done. I know it is not to the standard it should be either but I’m hoping to work on the feedback to improve it. This part of the course took longer than expected as there has been a few bumps in the road.

Overall, I have really enjoyed this first section of my course. I think I have come a long way since the beginning and I have learnt a lot of new things. Lots of different techniques and exercises that I can take from and apply to certain things in the future. I need to go out more to galleries and libraries to find primary sources to give that extra bit of context. I think that is something I lacked over this section of the course which probably held me back a bit. So this is something I will definitely try to improve on for the next part.