Seven

THIS WEEK HAS proven to be less inspiring than previous weeks, partly because other projects have taken up more time than expected. I have taken the initial steps towards realising my final surface textures, mainly through pencil studies and referring to the decorative motifs and pattern prints that I had previously found at the Met.

ON A SEPARATE NOTE, this project has raised a secondary concern - the distinction between staying true to a source of inspiration and pastiche - that was partially answered in another class. I had decided to make a kimono jacket in my patternmaking class and discovered that adapting the kimono jacket to Western sensibilities is a highly complicated process. This is because the kimono jacket emphasizes what Harold Koda calls the "layering" sensibility as opposed to Western notions of contouring the body - the contemporary kimono jacket then represents a sort of sartorial synthesis.

GOING FORWARD, I think it would be interesting to see how such a synthesis may happen on a surface design, the repetitive nature of a stripe combined with the abstract natural motifs found in Japanese textiles perhaps.



Fin.

Five

THE EXHIBITION AT THE MET had given me much to think about and this week, I sought to break it down and to recompose it into something suitable for my project. Curious at the surfeit of surface textures and decorative elements, I decided to research Japanese textiles and was struck by their simple - almost austere - quality that was, strangely, also very ornate.

THERE IS A TENSION there, this constant striving for balance between poverty and richness, that gives birth to something very exquisite.

THESE EXAMPLES OF surface textures and textile samples belong to a group I had edited down to. The follow weeks will see these images fed through the design process where synthesis occurs among disparate elements - the orange and asparagus decorative motifs, the colour palette developed from a couple of weeks ago, images of the beguiling Shinto priests and now, the raw beauty of these textiles.

AT THIS POINT, candour will have me admit that my notion of beauty is often gnomic. For all that fashion and textiles relate to the surface and so what beauty they reveal must be found there, the emotions they evoke - the sentiments about beauty and the aesthetic revelations - can and should transcend these material forms. Such is the challenge and the stuff of which a good designer must make his constant pursuit.

Fin.

Four

     

FOLLOWING THE CHOICE of an inspiration, a critical part of the design process is the analysis and translation of inspirational images into a concrete design vocabulary so that the next step in the collection development may be taken. Elements such as the colour palette, surface textures, prints and decorative motifs - these are all evidence and interestingly, the result of a critical thought process without which, design becomes mere surface ornamentation.

     

BY COINCIDENCE, as these things tend to happen, I chanced upon the "Sensitivity to Seasons" exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of New York City where objects used on a daily basis within a Japanese context were on display. The exhibition had a focus on the Japanese aesthetic's particular sensitivity to changes in seasons and how these eternal rituals reflect the confluence between flux and timelessness.

    THE EXHIBITION spoke to me and upon scrutiny, provided the required visual stimulus for developing decorative motifs that would fit both my inspiration and the colour palette I had established through the use of my inspirational images. I particularly enjoyed the considerable abstract use of reeds, flowers and water to reflect the seasons. There is an interesting similarity between these established visual tools and the sartorial conventions of print, stripe and plaid.

      

WITH THIS IN MIND, the time has come to begin development of surface textures and decorative elements.

Fin.