Visual Research

Following my visits to the various archives, one theme which appealed to me folk textiles. The bright colours and embroidery reminded me of the Turkish textiles I looked at last week. I also went to the Tate's Folk Art exhibition during the Summer, and had found it very inspiring. I particularly liked the approach of using whatever materials you had available to create something. One particular sculpture was made by a prisoner out of the scrap bits of bone he had left over from his meals. I have since looked at further folk textiles, including some I bought when in Istanbul and I have drawn them using different medias and also used different objects to draw with, extending the idea of decoration by using decorative objects to draw with: beads, buttons, spools etc.

This mark making echoed the circular imagery of the Turkish Mosques and architecture that I had also been looking at which in turn influenced my knits in that I wanted to experiment with created knits in a different form and the use of circles was a theme that I pursued.