Protection 2D pieces

After struggling to develop my ideas for the 2D work I led myself to think about meanings of the word ‘Protection’ more simple. As Jennie suggested to me that it didn’t have to be complicated.

Then I came to realize that, when ‘protection’ meant safety and security to me, my family had always protected me. Even I’m so far away from them now I feel their love and care. It’s probably felt more because I’m far away from them.

That feeling decided me to make some drawing of my family, but it happened only at last few weeks before deadline. Drawing them wasn’t too difficult as I had so many photos I could choose from. So I managed to make several ink drawings.

I used Japanese calligraphy paper and ink. The paper is very thin and fragile, which then had another way to express a meaning of ‘protection’. I diluted ink with water to make very weak colour. With the faint black colour drawings of my family members looked a bit dream-like, I guess it was because they were in my memory and not actually with me. I wanted to make them look very soft.

The moment of each events, which I clearly remember, holds so sweet feelings within me that drawing them was quite a precious thing for me to do.

Protection 3D piece

After I made a paper nest(first outcome) I tried to develop my idea by making different sized nests with different paper. I did like Neil’s idea of making a huge nest but after I actually made a fairly big one I wasn’t sure if I really liked to make more, especially with paper. I think it was because I liked my first paper nest very much.

Then I thought more about material while I was searching for more meanings of the word ‘Protection’. I thought what sort of things we would feel that we need to protect. Then it came to mind that children should be protected. They’re vulnerable. So I wondered how I could represent vulnerability or fragility into 3D piece. Choosing suitable material seemed the right answer to me. Glass came to my mind soon so I asked Alan and he took me to the glass workshop at college.

I had no knowledge of glass art so that my first question to Hamish about how to make a glass nest was possibly so naive. He introduce me a possible way to make it though. First I needed to make a base which to hold branches inside. I was thinking of making a nest as exactly as I did with paper. A base to hold lots of twigs and branches.

After I made a mold for it Hamish cut glass sheet for me and put both into a kiln to fuse. The glass slumped onto a mold and formed into bowl-shape after 24 hours in the kiln. Due to its thickness of the glass sheet the base came out as a solid glass bowl.

I ordered 2 different types of glass sticks which were to form twigs and branches. And that gave me downside of glass art. It’s a bit costly(£7/pac), delivery took 2 weeks and the supplier delivered wrong colour. I had waited for 2 weeks only to find out they gave me black.

I had 2 day till my presentation to make twigs and branches. I used a candle to heat the sticks so it took me AGES to make enough twigs.

At the presentation Alan told me it was probably inappropriate to put the twigs into a bowl as it seemed to lose its fragility. I took all the twigs out of the bowl and put them aside. It only enforced Alan’s point. They do look fragile on its own. With the bowl holding them seemed to contradict the first purpose of my choice of the material.

I was too preoccupied with completion of the piece to think of the best way to present it. Selection was very important as Alan suggested.

I think that for my future project I need to bear in mind it is crucial to take time to review the concept and to make a right decision of in what way the final piece could present the concept well.