Colour

2nd June 2020

Earlier this year I was invited to take part in the Fashion Fiction research project. Over two days the other participants and I were presented with alternative fashion realities and were asked to contemplate what those worlds would look like. The object being that from the initial given scenarios we would select one and bring it to life through discussion and visualisation.

Our chosen reality challenged us to imagine a world where chemical dyes had been banned due to an environmental disaster. One in which designers placed emphasis on silhouette and shape to compensate for living in a colourless fashion world. In response we created a society that revolved around the creation of natural colour and its application to clothing, where everyone grew and harvested plants and flowers to colour their wardrobes naturally.

Spring blooms for flower pounding sample.

I’m currently participating in the second stage of the project in which we are being asked to inhabit this world one day a week for 6 weeks by wearing white garments and introducing colour within the given parameters. To assist us we were given a book on the natural dying process.

From the offset I found myself less than enthusiastic at the prospect of wearing white (I didn’t even wear white at either of my two weddings) or spending days creating sludgy coloured dye stuffs from onion skin. As beautiful and informative as the natural dye book was, it’s imagery left me uninspired when it came to applying natural dyes to garments. As the others within the group set up dye pots with avocado stones, I contemplated how miserable I would be living in a world surrounded by insipid colour and the likelihood of me breaking the law to acquire boxes of Dylon on the black market.

Flower pounding on silk.

To contribute something more constructive to the research project I decided to try flower pounding, a simple process of literally banging flowers with a hammer onto fabric. This method produced quick and colourful results and brings me onto to the relevance of all of this to my masters project.

Fashion Fiction has brought to light my sense of aesthetics as a designer, the aspects of my design philosophy and passions that are so inherent in my being that I rarely give them a second thought. It has also helped me address internal conflicts I have had about pursuing the monochromatic process of Cyanotype when ordinarily I thrive on the interaction of colours.

Poppies for Cyanotype experiment

As the array of flowers has become more abundant and colourful this has become increasingly apparent. I began to feel disappointed and frustrated by the Cyanotype processes inability to capture the vivid colours of the flowers on offer. In theory the flower pounding exercise should have been the antidote to this, an injection of pure colour, but pretty as the images produced were, in comparison to my Cyanotypes they lacked any substance. I am aware that a quick colour experiment in a side-line project to my masters will of course lack the substance acquired through months of research and sampling, but usually I am always drawn to colour for it’s own sake, my wardrobe looks like a colour explosion in a florist, put me in a shop and I’ll always gravitate towards the brightly coloured objects on offer.

My default setting aesthetically is my fascination with colour. Participating in a project that has asked me to question life in a world without the full spectrum of colour in clothing whilst simultaneously working in a medium that by it’s nature limits me to varying depths of one colour has lead me to question my relationship with colour.

Lately on my masters project my love of colour is skewing my judgement. When I think about the development of the Cyanotypes I’ve produced and the nuances of the imagery I’ve created I’m actually really happy with the direction my work has taken. Each piece inspires the next and things feel as though they are naturally progressing into new territory that I feel excited by. It has only been through drawing attention to what is lacking, namely the natural colour of the Forget-me-nots and Poppies, instead of focusing on the ethereal qualities of the resulting Cyanotype that has created these feelings of unease.

Poppy and Forget-me-not Cyanotype exposure.

When I started this project I naturally assumed that I would need to inject other colours into my work, maybe through further screen printing or digital manipulation but I’ve found each attempt to do so has seemed superfluous to requirement.

My experiments with Cyanotypes are designed to construct an image that captures the core concepts of my masters project, a sense of connection and value. I’ve tried to achieve this through the manipulation of the process, using the imagery and materials I collect to help create emotive themes that I’d ordinarily evoke through the development of a colour palette. The flowers used within this process are helping to paint a picture not lend their colour.

The whole point of me undertaking a masters was to learn, push and challenge myself creatively, to experiment and indulge in the design process. I feel so fortunate that I get to spend two years doing just that, it is such a rare opportunity and one that I do not want to waste. I think perhaps that in itself is hindering my decision making, adding self-imposed pressure and doubt, which raises it’s head every time I step outside my comfort zone. As my intention is to explore new ground with my design practice it’s only natural that I would experience discomfort and uncertainty. Moving forward I think this is something I need to be mindful of.