S&R Conclusion
For my CP3 I answered the question: To what extent are regional crafts specific to a place in our increasingly globalized world? By the end I concluded that patination was the purist form of place oriented design since people have travelled and shared design techniques, styles and materials for thousands of years. However, the one thing that remained constant throughout all this was the ground and the layers of patina that form over time on these ancient artefacts. For my project, I explored this through artificial patinas on copper vessels, showing the diversity of the material and its strengths. I love how the patinas I created gave my vessels character and colour, making them look simple from the outside but revealing a rich patina on the inside. I really enjoyed how I made small medium and large nesting boxes whose proportions were satisfyingly scaled and the colours within contrasted each other nicely. I also tried out a new technique: repousse and chasing which I thoroughly enjoyed practicing. These designs were placed on the lids of the boxes because I thought that I needed more pattern and detail in my work but I think lids with the patterns cheapened it and would have been better without this addition. Overall, I am happy with this body of work. I think it shows off my style with coloured metal and the simple elegance of my pieces. Now that I have resolved my work, my goal for the next project is to refine.
Unit X Proposal
Originally when I first thought about my unit X, I thought that I could upscale the vessel forms I had and using the forms found through the making of the boxes to create a wall hanging sculpture to express the power of patination on a larger, more decorative scale. However, after discussing this matter with a tutor, I realized that there was still many improvements I could make to refine the vessels. After careful deliberation, I have decided to create a family of these vessels, having them in many different sizes, widths and lengths to create a collection that could be displayed in a gallery. On top of this, I aim to refine these objects so they are perfect, in form, patination and finish so that I can advance my practice to the next stage by starting to think about presenting these pieces at shows and fairs. It is important for me to start considering how my career will move forward from here and I would like to use Unit X as an opportunity to start planning where I will be after the summer and how I will move forward from university into a professional practice. I have recently been in contact with a studio called Cox London who’s work I have really appreciated for some time, especially their patinas on their cast pieces. I aim to get in contact with more studios and practitioners to network and get to know more people within the design community.