Laylah McGrath

LSAD I’m exploring the ocean and sealife with specific focus on the delicate movement of jellyfish in brief: MOVEMENT

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Final Lineup

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Potential Lineup Designs:

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Looking into Polka Dots…

Contemporary Polka Dots

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Looking at Machine Embroidery…

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Pleating in Contemporary Fashion

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Pleating Process

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Beading Research & Samples

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Colour & Mood Boards

I played around with print cutouts of some of kusamas creations and made collages including some of my own mark makings inspired by her work.

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Playing with polka dots and colour distortion

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Pumpkins & Polka Dots

Kusama frequently uses polka dotted pumpkins in her installations and paintings, she references polka dots in relation to the cosmos comparing them “After all, well, moon is a polka dot, sun is a polka dot, and then, the earth where we live is also a polka dot.” Yayoi Kusama, Infinite Obsession (2013).

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Artist Research: Yayoi Kusama

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Jellyfish in Fashion

Jellyfish garments from a haute-couture show; i was unfortunately unable to find the designer.

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I used shells that I collected from the beach and sewed them together with fishing line and added wire to create tentacles and suspended it to make it appear that it’s floating.

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I reused the cutoff threads from the skirt and wrapped them up with paper on top to create a small jellyfish sculpture.

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I began making the ‘tentacles’ by using different lengths of cut off wool threads and attaching them to a long strip of masking tape I stuck to the table. I then added a strip of wool on top and stitched to secure it.

I tacked it under the skirt and these are the results.

If I had more time I would have wished to add this jellyfish pattern with puff ink by screen printing it onto the skirt and perhaps the top?

Here is a sample I did on an extra piece of the blue fabric.

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I finished the balloon skirt and threaded elastic through the hems to eliminate the need for a clasp or zip. I put it on a mannequin and with another strip of the blue material, I wrapped it around the mannequin to make a top piece.

I tied the purple ribbon around the waist to create a belt of sorts.

I was struggling to find a way to logistically hold up the top once stitched and on the body rather than pinned to a mannequin…

I was thinking if I want it strapless, I would need more elastic, but that would then ruin the delicate wrap design… I thought about sticky strips around the inside top section, but I had no access to any.

I also thought about connecting a spaghetti strap or a piece of clear mesh down the right side of the garment, bridging the gap, making it a one strap.

Ultimately, I decided to attach the pink ribbon to create a halter neck, solving the issue of the top falling down.

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I obtained some white cotton fabric to print my jellyfish on but decided i’d like a coloured background to work on…

I mixed some blue acrylic paint in a bucket of water and proceeded to dye the large sheet, submerging it in the dye solution and lifting, mixing and working it every 5 minutes to obtain an even colour absorption, (although I was hoping/interested to see whether it would leave a watercolor effect, having slight variations of colour intensity throughout.)

I removed it from the water after 40 minutes, rung it out and hung the sheet up to dry in a large ventilated room.

I left it to dry and once I lightly ironed it I discovered there were slight colour changes from the creases that dried into the fabric when it was hung to dry.