Spitalfields inspired tapestry

I have started creating my second tapestry for my de Young residency show. Here are some images. This piece is inspired by an English silk weaving in the de Young Museum collection. The piece was created in the silk weaving district of Spitalfields which has a rich history in textile production and drew in people from diverse cultures to work this trade. This district felt much of the growing pains of the Industrial Revolution. French Huguenots escaping persecution in France settled here and brought their silk production skills. Later on lower paid Irish workers came and clashed with their supervising French tradesmen. Riots occurred as silk began to be exported from China and India and the price and demand for home spun silk declined. Angry works would roam about in bands and slash the garments of women wearing imported fabrics. There will be silk fragments dangling in the back to represent this violence.

In this piece I am teasing out elements of the tapestry and creating a new pattern with them. I want to visually explore how emphasizing certain exiting elements can create a new tone and rhythm. This altering of the pattern reflects the changes in the social texture of the Spitalfields district by new peoples and shifting economic winds. I will be using recycled materials that echo the cultural mix that impacted this district: English and Irish tea bags, Chinese wrappers, French wrappers, and Chinese and Indian silks.

This is where I am with this piece now. It will be viewable from both sides.




















































Above is the original sketch and the reference fabric .I have changed the color scheme a bit.
Below are some images of the early stages of building this piece. All my cardboard was donated to me by Chain Reaction Bicycle Shop in Los Altos. Thanks Chain Reaction!





























I created a tile in Illustrator from a section of Spitalfields tapestry in the de Young Museum's collection. I move this about on the cardboard to try to created an even pattern.















Here I have started to cover the sections in wrappers. These wrappers are the under layer. They will be covered in different colored papers.
















Below is a leaf motif I abstracted from the Spitalfields tapestry. I created this in Illustrator, printed it out and used it as a template to build these elements.



















Here are the leaf elements. They are covered in Chinese food wrappers, de Young Museum entry ticket stubs, English tea bag wrappers and scrap silk from Colleen Quen.



















Below is a flower motif pulled and abstracted from the Spitalfields tapestry.




















Below is the wire form of the flower. I will be making three of these to go on the tapestry.
















Here is the flower papered in the first layer of wrappers and beginning layer of silk.
















Here is the flower covered in silk and fragments of French candy wrappers.















Here is the back side of the completed flower. I used scarps of gold paper I had left over from another project.

Completed Ginko Leaf Tapestry

Today, George Young photographed my completed Ginko Leaf Tapestry. I am so grateful to have a great photographer document my work.
This piece is 6ft tall. Media: silk remnants from Colleen Quen, wire, produce netting, Chinese and Japanese food wrappers, fishing floats, Chinese knotting cords, waste canvas and plastic sushi grass.
























Detail image

More Ginko hats

Here are more of the Ginko Tapestry hats for the de Young Museum Residency.
One of my older hats will be used in a fashion photo shoot this Saturday for a hat calendar for The Asian American Cancer Support Network. The fashion photographer, Tony Maesto, is wonderful and I can't wait to see the images he takes.
http://www.tonymaesto.com/
http://www.aacsn.org/

This Ginko leaf hat is the largest one. It is made of Chinese and Japanese food wrappers, silk, produce netting and Chinese knots (I am learning these knots from a book Stacie Tamaki lent to me. Thanks Stacie!)



























This is the back view of the Large Ginko Leaf Hat. The wires and elastic band will be hidden under hair.
























Here is a medium sized ginko leaf hat.























Here is the smallest ginko leaf hat. It will fit my four year old perfectly.

Ginko Hats

Here is one of the hats for the Ginko Tapestry. I am making three of these in varying sizes.
This is one of the smaller Ginko hats worn by one of my friend's daughter. These hats are made of Chinese preserved plum wrappers, Japanese candy wrappers, silks from Colleen Quen and Chinese knots which I am learning to tie. The hat has an elastic band that slips under the hair to hold in place.

Ginko Leaf Tapestry

I have been working two tapestries at once for the de Young Museum residency. I plan on making eight tapestries in total.
Here is the Ginko Leaf tapestry in progress. The leaves will come off and become hats. The green silk is from Colleen Quen. The wrappers on the ginko leaves are Chinese preserved plum wrappers and Japanese Milky Candy wrappers. I will be finishing off the hats with green silk on the underside and am making decorative Chinese knots to add to the hats at the base of the stem.
The leaves here are not in their final position.

Children Film Festival Awards

Two animations that I directed last school year won awards in The International Student Media Festival 2008.
http://www.ismf.net/ns/about.asp

Peace Thoughts won Judges Favorite. This animation was created by a first grade class. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJ19kniuW1M


Claymation Situation by Cole Takara, Edward Slee and Cassie Woodard won Excellence in Media. This animation also won Best Animation in the CEEF Epic Film Festival in 2008. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1n8oKqnG2a0

The film festival will be held in Florida from November 5 to 8th and both animations will be in the festival screening. The children's school, Stevens Creek Elementary School, will receive a trophy and each child will get a medal and certificate.

Still images from Peace Thoughts:




















































Still images from Claymation Situation:

Hats On Post Sutter Stockton Garage Display

Yesterday I set up a window display in The Sutter Stockton Garage in San Francisco. This is my first display in a parking garage!This window display is for Hats on Post, a hat boutique with a long history in San Francisco dating back to the days when all the big department stores had their own milinary departments and women did not step out their doors without a hat on. I was very excited to have this opportunity as this garage sees a lot of foot traffic. During the hour I was there I met many interesting people, many of whom liked and had questions about my Asian food wrapper hats. I was also grateful to Peggy Purcell of Hats on Post for allowing me to post some info and sketches about my up coming residency at the de Young Museum. I will be making duplicates of some of my artist residency hats and selling them through Hats on Post.

We added two hats to the display by another designer whose work I really like and fits in well with mine. Here name is Jasmin Zorlu. I loved her little blue nest hat with a little bird in it. So lovely!
Her website is: http://www.jasminzorlu.com/























Above is the window display in the garage.


















Above is as sketch of the installation. Peggy sent me the dimensions and I planned out the hats and props before I went up to San Francisco.