mariamayoralfmp

[mariamayoralfmp]

Visual composition - artist research

For my final piece , the body of my model became twisted and had shrunk. The torso had shrunk up to the rib cage , squeezing all the threads at the abdomen together. This represents the other spectrum of what social media expects your body to look like and how all women should have hour glass figures. The visual composition of Jenny Saville’s work is that she creates the realistic huge painted pieces of plus sized women, stretching their flesh across humongous canvases and making each detailed cellulite or roll visible to the viewers. The stitching of my piece resembles the unrealistic expectations created by social media and plastic surgery made bodies , that set an unfair standard for all women in society.

As Kathy burks also stated in her series all women, she explains when talking to ex love island contestant Megan Barton , that before she had plastic surgery she was not considered to be beautiful or classed as pretty due to her nose and not have bigger breasts. When she did go under the knife and get all the features people had pointed out she “needed” she was then ridiculed and told that she was not naturally beautiful. Kathy Burke’s says “you can never please social media, if I had the chance to have surgery I wouldn’t change a thing “ From these examples we can see that social media standards are unrealistic and unfair and hold a very strange standard for women on any platform.

My piece is a twisted version of the standards set my society while also incorporating the natural features that we have and are not represented enough, such as stretch marks . The diverse range of shading allows the piece to highlight certain features of the body , such as the highlighted rib cage, that’s squeezed in at the torso.

#bodypositivity #body image #textiles #art #beautiful body

[mariamayoralfmp]

FINAL PHOTOSHOOT 2

These are more images of my clothing rack set up. I really liked the use of the white hangers as I felt they created the setting of a fabricated , factory like setting, and how the unrealistic body type is created and achieved mostly through surgery and fake implants.

For my second idea of my photoshoot I wanted to have my piece pinned upon a black clear mannequin. I decided to have this set up as there was a large contrast with the mannequin and my piece. The shaping of the mannequin is a more realistic sizing of a female body, whereas my piece includes the more unrealistic hour glass figure. This created an interesting contrast also because of the block black colouring of the mannequin, it allows the details of the piece to stand out.

#bodypositivity #body image #textiles #art #beautiful body

[mariamayoralfmp]

FINAL PHOTOSHOOT 1

These are the final images for my photoshoot. These images are of my first planned configuration for my piece.

I decided to have my final piece hanging off a clipped hanger, on a clothing rack. I also included other hangers and transparent suit bags. I included these as I wanted to have nothing else available to take off the rack as a piece except for the bodice.

I was really happy with how they came out as I believe they made my statement clear , in that the perfect body can’t just be taken off a rack and put on.

I wanted to include multiple shadows and shapes in my background. I changed my positioning continuously in order to really capture the different textures from the directions showing the stitching.

#bodypositivity #body image #textiles #art #beautiful body

[mariamayoralfmp]

SETTING UP FOR FINAL PHOTOSHOOT 📸

For my photo shoot I required a plain background , a clothing rack , hangers and some other props.

When gathering the coat hangers I decided that I wanted to keep one colour pallet and not have a mixed range of colours and metals in the shots.

I chose to use a brown coloured coat hanger and also included white hangers and see through suit zip bags.

These are images of me trying to see which set ups looked best for this shoot, I also wanted to include multiple shaded mannequins .

#bodypositivity #body image #textiles #art #beautiful body

[mariamayoralfmp]

FINAL PIECE -

Final touch

After finishing my final piece I had to remove the soluble sheet of material. In order to make this process easier I cut off the edges of this sheet. Doing this helps with the wash process as it won’t give me as many thick layers and unnecessary pieces to wash off.

After cutting the excess layering o used hot water and started to wash around the edges of the piece. This was a delicate process as it would also allow me to see if the piece had any gaps where the stitching wasn’t thick enough. Due to the uncertainty that the stitching would be even I had to make sure I was washing it gently so it wouldn’t rip. After washing all of the sheet off I left it to air dry on the side until the next day .

#bodypositivity #body image #textiles #art #beautiful body #womanpower

[mariamayoralfmp]

LUCY BROWN -

Presentation for final piece

Brown’s imaginative reference point for this installation, however, is the photographic record of Nottingham lace factory women workers at their duties. Through archive images, she describes considering the collective bodies of these women, and their assumption of a submissive and obedient formation, heads bowed, shoulders and skirts touching, seated and patient, almost still, their fingers checking and mending flaws in the lace, containers of the harmed, unspeakable and taboo. There are embodied meanings at play in these photographs that Brown is wholly conscious of: they represent “successful womanliness”, the so-called “feminine virtues” of thrift, diligence and domesticity, and the fragmentary feminist forms of articulation and artistry. The evocative resonance of the lace garments selected by Brown pierces the surface of the photograph, rendering its cool documentation messy with its subjects as feminine, their labour as repetitive and obsessive, their hysteria and desire palpable.

A significant punctuating moment in that ritualised relationship came when Brown’s mother handed over a particular bag of “stuff”, containing clothes she had made by hand as well as nighties, petticoats, negligées, her nan’s girdles, stockings and underwear. Brown’s slow unpacking of that bag, her trust or faith in her own intuitive ability to make work out of what she found, and the concurrent inspiration drawn from the seminal Conceptual Clothing exhibition and publication , informed the development of her creative practice: ‘the underwear was the intimacy, a very private garment, something you don’t see in the public domain, so I was interested in that private and public space. ‘

This image is what inspired me for the presentation of my final piece, I wanted to create a similar shoot , with my piece hanging from a hanger on a clothing rack or mid air in a dim lighted room and shadows in the background. These are also some sketches I drew when picturing how I could present my final piece.

Option 1 was to have the piece pinned onto a black mannequin to have a contrast in body shape . Option 2 was to have it up against an actual model , with writing all in the body with the statements I had gathers for my primary research. And option 3 was to have my piece hanging on a rack , and have clothing hangers and suit bags in the background and to photograph the piece while experimenting wi shadows and lighting.

#bodypositivity #body image #textiles #art #beautiful body #womanpower

[mariamayoralfmp]

JENNY SAVILLE -

nude women

Jennifer Anne Saville RA is a contemporary British painter and an original member of the Young British Artists. She is known for her large-scale painted depictions of nude women. She creates enormous paintings of larger sized women, collecting every detail and crevice of their bodies. She includes all uncommonly praised features such as cellulite , stretch marks and body rolls.

Her work is displayed in exhibitions on walls , and her paintings tower over anyone who walks by. I really found the way she presents her work inspiring. I feel as thong having these massive paintings in a crisp clean room has an interesting contrast , and makes the pieces have the exact direct attention needed.

“Human perception of the body is so acute and knowledgeable that the smallest hint of a body can trigger recognition.”

—Jenny Saville

In her depictions of the human form, Jenny Saville transcends the boundaries of both classical figuration and modern abstraction. Oil paint, applied in heavy layers, becomes as visceral as flesh itself, each painted mark maintaining a supple, mobile life of its own. As Saville pushes, smears, and scrapes the pigment over her large-scale canvases, the distinctions between living, breathing bodies and their painted representations begin to collapse.

#bodypositivity #body image #textiles #art #beautiful body

[mariamayoralfmp]

FINAL PIECE -

production 7, finishing details

After adjusting the shape of the body it was now time to add in the details and scars to finish the look.

With black thread I went and created the belly button and then also added in the crevices of the under boob . I then used light pink thread to create the stretch marks on the legs.

With a dark brown thread I started stitching no the outside of the nipples , and then went in with a lighter thread to add the texture.

#bodypositivity #body image #textiles #art #beautiful body #womanpower

[mariamayoralfmp]

FINAL PIECE-

production 6, lower body

I continued sewing the belly area and the legs of the body , continuously alternating with skin coloured thread.

Throughout this make process I had to buy around £30 worth of threads.

After finishing the thighs, abdomen and upper body my base was finished. However, due to the shrinkage of the soluble sheet my bodice had shrunk immensely at the bottom half , whereas the top half was much broader and wider. In order to fix this issue I purchased more thread and added another Column of body to the abdomen on the side , and extended the underwear in order for the proportions to look better.

#bodypositivity #body image #textiles #art #beautiful body

[mariamayoralfmp]

Final piece - time lapse of abdomen coverage

This time lapse was 20 minutes of pure sewing , as this piece requires constant stitching and movement.

#bodypositivity #body image #textiles #art #beautiful body

[mariamayoralfmp]

FINAL PIECE-

production 5, abdominal region

Due to the large shrinkage in the soluble sheet I started on the side edges of the abdomen in order to see how I would take back the shape , and attempt to push the stitching more outwards.

I continued to alternate with different shades of thread and made sure that there was a blended mix. As I was stitching the middle of the belly the soluble sheet had shrunk so much I had to fold the excess and stitch it in.

#bodypositivity #body image #textiles #art #beautiful body #womanpower

[mariamayoralfmp]

FINAL PIECE

- production 4 underwear

Due to the shrinking of the dissolvable fabric I decided to move to the black underwear to make it easier to shape the body after sewing it’s base.

For the upper part of the bodice that I made i used an upward and downward motion using the machine. This allowed the top half to stretch and not shrink inwards . However , when starting to stitch the underwear part of the bodice I started with a sideways motion on the machine. This made a shrinkage in the dissolvable material and made the bottom half smaller on the piece.

#bodypositivity #body image #textiles #art

[mariamayoralfmp]

FINAL PIECE

-production 3

Continuing with the same sewing pattern I continued to see the top right corner of my bodice. I made sure that I was sewing the same direction as the sheet of dissolvable fabric kept shrinking , and if I sewed the other direction it would also shrink that way too.

For this project I decided to use multiple shading of skin toned colours , so I first started with a larger roll of thread in order to complete half of the breast area, and then using the same thread to add some colouring and shading in the middle abdominal part of the woman and two shades areas at the bottom of the legs.

It was quite difficult to add in these shaded areas randomly as the sheet of dissolvable fabric had started to shrink rapidly and crumple, this was too much of an issue as I just had to continue to adjust the shaping of my stitches and of the body as I went along.

#bodypositivity #body image #textiles #art #beautiful body

[mariamayoralfmp]

FINAL PIECE

-production 2

After tracing the desired shape that I wanted , I used black thread on both my bob-in and my main streamed thread To trace the shape. I made sure that the lines I sewed were thick enough to stick together as sewing just one thin line causes higher risks of ripping the dissolvable fabric .

I only sewed the outside lines of the body shape and not any detailing as when sewing onto this material , it shrinks and causes multiple ripples . After making sure that my base lining was done I started the long process of sewing the base colouring of the body. Using a beige toned colour at first, I started in the top right corner of the upper body and used an upward and downward stitch , and only used this movement throughout the top half.

#bodypositivity #body image #textiles #art #beautiful body

[mariamayoralfmp]

FINAL PIECE

- production1, shaping

In order to get the right shape of my piece I wanted to use a realistic model who I could trace around.

For this final piece I required a big section of dissolvable fabric , big enough to fit a life sized body . I got around 2 metres of the dissolvable material and folded it in order to create a thick layer. It’s important to have a thick layer of the fabric as when sewing into it, a sturdy base is needed so that it doesn’t rip , and the thread has something to be attached to .

I carefully placed the sheet in the floor and had my model lay down with the material stopping at her neck and her hips. I used a black marker to draw around her shape. It was important for me to know what shape I wanted my piece to be so I adjusted the shoulders in order for it to have the shaping similar to a dress.

#bodypositivity #body image #textiles #art #beautiful body #womanpower #body language

[mariamayoralfmp]

Complex news report- Billie Eilish and body image

Billie Eilish has come under fire by some fans after shooting in more “feminine” and “promiscuous” outfits for the cover of vogue.

Fans, followers, and haters are used to Eilish dressing in baggy silhouettes that conceal her body. It’s been a sticking point throughout her albeit short career: celebrated for her body positivity but demonized when she wears anything remotely revealing. In fact, back in October, photos of her wearing a snug-fitting vest caused outrage, similar to that one time she was dragged for wearing a tank top during her 2019 tour. “Don’t make me not a role model because you’re turned on by me,” she said, also citing her body as the reason she was “depressed” when she was a kid.

This situation is a perfect example of why social media has a big affect on body image and how it can affect someone who struggle with body issues. Social media praised Billie Eilish for wearing baggier clothes and never revealing her body shape, while also having half of her fans encouraging her to be more free and confident In herself. Many fans were waiting to see her wear tighter figure hugging clothing and wanted to see what she looked like in more clothing classed as “feminine”. However , when she does show any type of skin or cleavage she gets completely criticised for it and is called a sellout or a slut.

She has recently rebranded her look and shot a vogue cover wearing a corset and tighter fitting clothes. She has come under fire as her fans are claiming that she is a sell out now and she ditched her original look. It’s become a controversial topic as people are commenting on how she should present herself and what she should wear as a role model.

#bodypositivity #body image #textiles #art #beautiful body

[mariamayoralfmp]

Ghada Amer - Contemporary artist, Women.

4.04.2021

Ghada Amer is a contemporary artist, much of her work deals with issues of gender and sexuality. Her most notable body of work involves highly layered embroidered paintings of women's bodies referencing pornographic imagery. Her work is absolutely mesmerising and really paints a message as a viewer. Her technique of machine embroidery is very specific as she also plays around with a style of stitch which leaves the end threads dangling off of her pieces to create this beautiful long elongated effect of continuous stitching.

“I believe that all women should like their bodies and use them as tools of seduction”

Amer stated ; and in her well-known erotic embroideries, she at once rejects oppressive laws set in place to govern women’s attitudes toward their bodies and repudiates first-wave feminist theory that the body must be denied to prevent victimisation.

By depicting explicit sexual acts with the delicacy of needle and thread, their significance assumes a tenderness that simple objectification ignores . Ghada Amer continuously allows herself to explore the dichotomies of an uneasy world and confronts the language of hostility and finality with unsettled narratives of longing and love.

In terms of Ghada amer’s work style I tried to incorporate her lines of detailing as she uses thicker stitching to make the outlines of the women she creates and adds all their features without colouring in any base shades. Her work is predominantly the outlines and detailing of people and body parts.

She uses a wide range of vibrant colours and mixes these beautiful shades of thread which make her pieces have a radiant feeling when looking at them.

#bodypositivity #body image #textiles #beautiful body #womanpower #art #body language #womenempowerment