Brodie Allen Portfolio

[brodieallen]

One of the projects I liked the most was painting and mark making to music. This was inspired by the artist Kandinsky who believed that music and art, to some, had a certain connection. I used ink, crayons and paint to create texture and character to the pieces, I used thick paint and used crayon on top to create grooves in the paint to make the surface feel different.

[brodieallen]

My final piece for the First year was greatly influenced by nature. Elements have been taken from the ocean and the earth to be more exact. I used weaving as my main technique as i believed that it has a very rural feel to it. I used earth tone colours to keep the theme and blues to include the theme of nature. I really like how the mixed textiles weaves turned out as they showcase a variety of textures and structure. 

[brodieallen]

One of my favourite techniques is Batik as the process is fun and the result is different every time. I think that Batik allows for a large range of colours which varies piece to piece.  I like paring freehand machine embroidery with batik as they both look very free and have little restraint.  I have used batik in most of my final pieces are the colours are sporadic and give an energetic feel to them. 

[brodieallen]

Felting is one of my least favourite techniques for a few reasons however I really liked how this piece turned out. I started out with creating a piece of felt which had a mix of blues, purples and whites. I then created a larger plain red piece as a base. I cut up the blue piece into smaller abstract pieces and felted them to the red base. I also felted silk yellow and dark blue thread into the red felt as well. To finish off the piece I machine embroidered over the blue felt pieces to make them stand out. I felt that orange would contrast with the blue piece but connect well with the red felt. I really like how the blue parts of the felt look like gems.  

[brodieallen]

Paper Making was interesting as it allowed me to experiment and create a piece from scratch. After making the pulp I used embroidery hoops with a synthetic material to mould the pulp and create a base of paper. I then used threads and materials to create texture and then placed another layer of paper over the top. This trapped the thread and material. After the paper dried I used hand embroidery to add detail and highlight the trapped threads to bring attention to them. The paper had dried around the thread and material so that it stood out, I really liked the way these two in particular turned out. 

[brodieallen]

Manipulating wadding by cutting and printing on top of it had some interesting results. First I arranged thread between two pieces of wadding by either creating circles by wrapping the thread around my hand or fingers, or laying thread over itself to create thicker appearance. I then used screen prints with contrasting colours to the threads to create patterns on top and then cut out certain areas and manipulated them. i did this by cutting out circles and folding into four to create a textured 3D effect. I also pleated a section and added that however it was difficult to pleat the wadding and the fibres were not the most sturdy.

[brodieallen]

These are from a Still Life drawing class I attended in College. We were challenged to try and draw the man whilst not looking at the paper, only to correct ourselves if we felt we had gone too far off piece. We were asked to follow the outline of his body with our eyes and channel that onto the paper. I found the hardest part to be getting the bodily proportions right without looking at the paper.

[brodieallen]

This piece was inspired by the classic 1960′s housewife apron that would have been worn whilst they cleaned the house. I covered it in inspirational quotes which can empower women. I also decided to challenge myself by using materials used in the house. I used washcloths for the pattern and bed sheets for the base material and pockets.  The Fragile tape signifies how women were seen as fragile and had to be treated with caution and that they may not be “strong enough” mentally or psychically so carry out more “male suited jobs” such as being the breadwinner in the house or more labour intensive jobs.