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BA2b: Netherlands 2018.....

This year's foreign trip was to Amsterdam and Rotterdam. We had a packed schedule involving lots of different galleries, each showcasing a mixture of contemporary and classical art, with historical objects also included. My main interests were in the more contemporary works which included a textile/fabric element as that's my main interest within my current practice. 

The Artists of interest:
  • Rossella Biscotti - I was interested in her embroidery pieces and how she combined statistics with the delicate art of embroidery. I was also impressed at the scale of her work and how she displayed them - draped along the floor similar to that of a carpet display. Something that I might consider in the future if I start to explore scale in my work. I was inspired to use statistics in relation to feminism within my work to really bring the link between the movement and my work together more strongly. 
  • Otobang Nkanga - I was interested in Nkanga's work as I hadn't seen an entire canvas woven in such detail before. From afar it looked painted, but once you got up close you could see the stitching and the strands of thread woven into the canvas. This is something that I've always wanted to do within my own embroidery - effectively 'paint' with thread. I think I'm definitely going to explore this method next year and perhaps even combine it with actual paint. This work has inspired me to test the boundaries of embroidery and see how far I can take it. Nkanga's inspirations are from natural resources and the environment, something that isn't my main interest but I can see how effective this technique is to replicate the patterns of earth and stone. 
  • Fashion and art: 'Mondrian Dress' by Yves Saint Laurent - I was also interested in fashion that was inspired by art like the 'Mondrian Dress' by Yves Saint Laurent (1936-2008). I thought that it would be an interesting idea to perhaps incorporate women's fashion into artworks that raise awareness of how women can be sexualised in everyday clothing and that clothing can be more than just something to ogle at on a woman. I had the idea of stitching into dresses and creating my own designs, perhaps even stitching slogans onto women's dresses much like Zoe Buckman and her slogan lingerie. 
  • Iris De Leeuw - Her work here is print based. I was interested in her work because of the bright, bold colours and shapes that she uses for her screen printed posters. This is something that I could consider for our SELLOUT exhibition which is all about bright colours, aesthetics and contemporary imagery such as the Vapour Wave movement. The bright pinks, blues and yellows really fit into our theme and is something that I will probably look into further. Maybe perhaps for some of the products to be featured within the 'exhibition'. Furthermore, it gave me the idea to possibly print onto fabric, something I briefly tried in previous years but never explored further. This could link nicely with the combination of paint and embroidery and I could possibly stitch over the printed fabric, thus taking embroidery that little bit further. 
  • Therese Schwartze - Finally, I was really surprised to find a female oil painter in such a famous gallery. Most galleries like the Rijksmuseum tend to only feature male oil painters as they were the most prominent artists of the century. Most women of that century were only seen as wives, mothers and would stick to domestic arts such as embroidery. To see a female painter showcased like this really made me feel happy, and was a first for me after visiting a lot of galleries throughout my life. I did decide to research her and found that her father was a painter and encouraged her to paint as well, she was also part of an artists collective of women called 'Amsterdamse Joffers' based in Amsterdam.  'At the time, for a young Dutch woman to work in Paris was as unconventional as pursuing an artistic career. However, as the seasoned daughter of a professional painter, Schwartze was not deterred by such obstacles.' from: https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/collection/SK-A-1703)

Overall I came away from Amsterdam with a lot of ideas, some of which I might start in Year 3 or even over the summer holidays in between, but either way, I now have a clearer direction as to where my practice is going. I will most probably still keep to using Feminism and Womanism as my main inspirations, but I think I'm starting to move away from that slowly as a main subject, and I think the idea of Craft is starting to interest me more.

Mondrian Dress -
Yves Saint Laurent
Otobang Nkanga


Iris De Leeuw



Rossella Biscotti

Therese Schwartze 















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