final evaluation
Final evaluation
The context of my work is based on the life of a waitress and what happens behind the scenes. The collection of my work is called “I’m not just a pretty little thing under an apron”
I chose to explore this theme to wake my open my audiences’ eyes and show them that this happening in front of their eyes without them knowing. My work is also a way of me expressing my feelings and the thoughts that have gone through my head but have never been spoken. My influence is my job, I have been waitressing for at least 2 years. I am always watching old men and upper-class woman screw up their noses and smear their food down their faces. I would like to see a change and progression in how customers view waitresses and waiting staff. I have linked my final major project of politics due to my project linking to human rights and how we should treat others like we would like to be treated.
My work communicates the intended theme and also explores other themes. I did not want to show a completely horrific view of waitressing because I did not think my audience would be able to compare. I believe I have successfully applied my knowledge of visual language and communication through different printing designs and also sampling with mark making to make sure I achieve the best result. My work has developed through the concept, the title I chose started off very bland “A day in the life of a Waitress” I chose this title to start of project because it linked very well to the theme we were given. However, I have developed my title to “I’m not just a pretty little thing under an apron” I believe this demonstrates clearly what I would like my audience to see. I believe it does fit very well to my audience because it guides the audience to open their eyes to reality and the society we currently live in.
I succeeded my original intentions; I planned to only create three different print designs but I ended up doing four. I chose to do four, to show various sides of waitressing. However, throughout the project I did change. At the start, I planned to only create just a written quote print. I then changed to the seasons of fruit and veg. After a while, I realised the fruit and veg would not exactly imply what I wanted. In the end, I created one handwritten print, one that was created with coffee and tea stains, one that represented the meal side which incorporated sweaty meat and embroidery. The last one was a nice delicate print with pears and mushrooms which linked to the season of autumn.
The main thing that inspired me the most about this project is my colleagues because I could see each time I went into work how much it got to them. The other thing that inspired me is that waitresses ignore it and no one ever speaks about it so I thought it was time to open people’s eyes to reality instead of hiding all the time. The main artist that inspired me the most in this project is Tracey Emin. Emin is an incredible textile artist and she is not afraid to speak the truth. Emin creates textiles pieces that are inspired by her sexual life and also how personal traumatic events. I have interpreted Emins’ work by using personal events that have happened to me and also hers through textile techniques. I have incorporated various printing techniques; mark making and transfer ink to demonstrate different effects.
I have been inspired by the photographer called Simon peacock who captures people off guard. Peacocks’ photography is based on the reflection of public transport and windows. I am inspired by his work because I would like to capture the feeling the waitress has when a customer makes a disturbing remark like “I prefer naughty girls”, “can I sleep in your bed tonight” I would like to show the public that this not okay. It is not a joke and it is not funny.
I have explored a range of alternative ideas by researching into laws which involved, working hours, minimum wage and the little amount of rights you have in that type of work place. I have problem solved in many ways, one of the ways was when I cut out my apron the wrong way which meant my print was upside down. However, I change the design of the apron to a waist apron which turned out very successfully.
I have created targets for each day mostly and given myself checklists for each week to make sure I am on top of everything. However, I do think I should have stuck with a target to show better progression. In the future, I would make sure I had a target set for each day I came into college and made sure that it was completed at the end of the day this would have meant that I would not be behind on work.
I used plain cotton for 3 of print designs because I wanted to demonstrate how waitresses are seen as piece of plain cotton with no meaning. The other design is printed on black cotton because the binder I used had glitter in it to give an extra look. Also, the colourway demonstrated a girly stereotypical look, the look you would think I man would see. I have incorporated different techniques, dying with veg, printing with veg, screen printing, heat press, mark making. Experimenting with different techniques helped to see what works best with my concept.
I believe my work does successfully communicate my concept because the embroidered quotes and meaty look demonstrates the anger and also gives you an idea of what goes on behind the scenes of waitressing. I do not think I needed to do 4 different print designs to demonstrate my design but I would not have known that without doing it first. In the fashion show, I would like to incorporate meat, which will include each of the models carrying meat on their train. The message I am trying to portray is the image that men somehow see in waitresses.
I have used maths to budget my fabric, binder and screens to make sure I did not spend too much when I didn’t need to. I also used maths to make sure I had the correct measurements for my apron. I have also collected my receipts to calculate how much I have spent in this project and how I can next time spend less money on fabric because I bought too much.
I have applied many of the character project skills in my project. I have respected the colleges equipment which involved me making sure that I cleaned up my area after screen printing to make it was ready for the next person. I communicated with other classmates to see what they thought of project and whether they had their own experiences of waitressing. I have tried to keep myself motivated throughout the project which was extremely difficult because we were a lot of time to complete the project which meant that my drive was constantly up and down. The character project allows me to reflect on how hard I’ve worked and that I need to work a lot harder next year to make sure everything is done to my best ability.
Overall, I have learnt that I am easily distracted and that I am capable of anything when I am motivated and focus on what I want to achieve. I am proud of what I have done so far in my final major project. However, I believe that I could have added a lot more detail to each design to successfully show my concept. For example, I could have needled felted onto my coffee stain print design to create a mould effect. My strengths are screen printing and be able to adapt my new ideas. I am constantly thinking of new ideas. Although, this could be seen as a weakness because I end up doing too much with little amount of time. In future, I will be more prepared by trying to improve my time management better and following my time plan. In year 2, I’ll make sure I create lots of mind maps and spider diagrams to visualise my ideas.