Sculptural Textiles is a material investigation exploring sculptural possibilities for machine woven textiles. Two important factors are yarn combinations and textile construction, and how these two together can result in fabrics that can be manipulated by hand into shapes and thus adaptable to various settings. The essence of this project is in the meeting between contrasts such as shiny-dull, elastic-stiff, transparent-opaque, natural and synthetic and how these meetings can create sculptural qualities. The project is aiming to create a range of sculptural textiles as well as being an exploration in material. Construction and density are tools to bring forth the beauty and function of the materials. The result is a range of textiles showing that small changes in material and construction can lead to different sculptural characteristics.

This practice-led research explores the significance of Qi energy for fashion by materialising the East Asian culturally-specific concept of Qi. Qi features prominently in the traditional philosophy of everyday life in East Asia and my research aims to show how this philosophy can also provide an understanding of the relationship between body, garment and making, which is new to more Western concepts of fashion culture. This reflective journey unravels fashion practice in this context, focusing on the making process and the methods that were developed during that process. I engaged in significant handwork in the field of contemporary womenswear, integrating concepts of the body and garment as a circulatory system for Qi energy. It is the objective of this research to realise garments which help the understanding of Qi as a communication tool in relationships that arise in fashion, namely those that exist between the material and the maker during the making process, the body and the garment, and the wearer and the viewer. My research question originates from a desire to find a way to materialise Qi in garments through the making process. To pursue this, I explore a range of fields including anthropology, material culture, psychoanalysis, literature, cultural theory, and language. Apart from contextual studies, I adopted conversations and filming as methods to develop my research further. In practice, I investigate the meridians (as seaming which constructs garments), the finishing and the openings of the garment, all of which amount to a transitional interface. I view this as a concrete way of injecting Qi energy into the garment on a material level. I have reflected deeply on my making experience; this reflection has led the entire process and also given me a much better understanding of body and garment. Through my making process, aimed at materialising Qi in the garment, I essentially tried to establish a better connection between body and garment. This thesis oscillates between practice and theory. My research suggests Qi energy as a new perspective on fashion making; it offers a new understanding of the body in fashion and tries to fill the gap between practice and theory through embodied knowledge.

No description available.

Kan man förhöja hela upplevelsen av att resa kollektivt genom att förändra textilierna i denna miljö? Hur anpassar man sin estetik till en miljö som är så hårt utsatt för smuts, slitage och skadegörelse? Kan man genom att förändra textilien skapa en bättre relation mellan passageraren och sätet?Textile design for public transport. / Program: Textildesignutbildningen

Digitalt textiltryck ger mig möjlighet att skapa textilier av hög kvalitet i små upplagor utan begränsningar vad gäller rapportstorlek och färgantal. Jag kan producera hållbara och praktiska textilier med en handgjord känsla. Dessa egenskaper ger tekniken intressanta möjligheter som en överbryggare mellan design och textil konst/konsthantverk. Det ger också stora möjligheter att anpassa formgivningen efter en specifik möbel eller miljö. Detta vill jag utnyttja i mitt arbete. Jag samarbetar med två konstnärer där de tillverkar möbler och jag textilier. Vår ambition är att göra gränsen diffus mellan det massproducerade och unika, mellan konst, hantverk och design. Vi arbetar på temat illusion/verklighet och utgår från en institutionsliknande miljö. Som kontrast till ursprungsmiljön använder vi oss av fantasi, drömmar och natur för att öppna rummet och sinnet. Genom att arbeta med min formgivning utifrån ett konstnärligt sammanhang hoppas jag kunna ge textilierna ett uttryck som uppmuntrar till tankar och associationer. Eftersom textilierna är digitaltryckta behöver jag inte göra avkall på kvalitet till förmån för en konstnärlig känsla. Motiven kan reproduceras på material som lämpar sig för att faktiskt användas i väntrummet eller sjukhussalen.Old institutional furniture comes to life in a new furniture piece. The project is a collaboration with the artists an furniture makers Maria Segersäll and Rasmus Sköld. Our ambition is to make the boundary diffuse between the mass produced and unique, between art, craft and design. We work on the theme of illusion/reality with starting point in an institution-like setting. In contrast to the original environment, we use imagination, dreams and nature to open up the space and the mind. With digital transfer print, I can produce sustainable and practical fabrics with a hand-made impression, textiles that can actually be used in the waiting room or hospital. / Program: Textildesignutbildningen

This work explores how colour and light can be used as the prime design materials. They are investigated in unison in relation to spatiality. Colour is a way for us to understand and identify what we see, it is primary for how we interpret our surroundings. The aim is to explore colour, light and reflections, by the means of printing and dyeing of translucent materials, as an attempt to challenge the visual perception of the spectator and the experience of how spatiality is perceived. The project investigates how the boundaries of a textile can be questioned, for example where does a pattern begin and end? Does it only belong to the textile or can it transcend to it’s surroundings? The investigational process is experimental and explores combinations of colour and light in translucent materials, coloured through the techniques of heat transfer printing and dyeing. Swatches made are analysed in relation to each other and to light, with a focus on their visual performance. The final design examples discusses the idea of how textile, light and colour can be used to create, define and illuminate spatiality.

This project explores the combination of a woven structure consisting of different fibers with dyeing to create a multidimensional woven textile capable of altering in expression. This project aims to show how a designer can work with fibre-specific dyeing and multiple fibers in a woven textile and the many possibilities this lends in a design process. With a sustainable approach to the matter used in the project, creating more with less, a suggestion is made of an alternative method of creating multidimensional fabrics. The chemical reaction between pigment and fiber is explored to show a greater appreciation for the textile material and to create fabrics capable of multiple expressions. One woven fabric, in individual pieces, is dyed in reactive-, acid- and disperse-dye. The cellulose-, wool- and synthetic yarns in the fabric absorb their intended pigment but also show how they react to another category of dye. A series of dyed samples, all originating from the same woven material with an abstract pattern, show the varied expression the treatment can achieve. The fabric and method presented in the project show an example of how one can compose a series of textiles with less matter but with more expression.

This project is about exploring a textile surface with the design elements of sound, physical contact and tactility. It is interesting to analyse how audio and physical elements can help stimulate the human senses. The aim is to bring these elements into a design context and create a textile surface that can give people a sensory and spatial experience. Through tufting it is possible to work with long and short pile, which adds tactile values in the material. The outcome of this exploration is a vast tufted landscape that partly covers the wall and continues out on the floor. The surface has an abstract visual appearance with irregular shapes that defines the different material. The large scale has an overwhelming effect and invites people to interact and explore the surface. This challenges the fundamental structures of architecture and increases the importance of tactile and human senses, such as curiosity in spatial environments

This bachelor degree work explores the interrelation between print and surface in fashion design and aims to investigate the expressional possibilities in merging of techniques. With focus on creating an irregular surface through embroidery and fringing, three-dimensional expressions are created, resulting in an illusion of depth and movement within the motifs. The work is textile-driven, hence the main focus has been to find materials, applicational techniques and motifs that interact with each other without conflicts. Through the use of heat sensitive yarns within the transfer printing process a clear relationship between texture and motif occur where the different aspects affect each other and are equally important for the final visual expression. It is the heat-press used to transfer print from paper to surface that is the most vital step of the process. This work strives to propose a transposed order of applying techniques within a design process. Whilst the act of embellishing existing prints has been investigated by a range of designers, this project propose an order where the print is added post additive surface-manipulation. Therefore this work is to be seen as a suggestion of new ways of approaching the use of prints within the fashion field. Balancing between fashion design and textile design, the collection is based on generic prints and shapes which are affected by the surface manipulations used.

Thesis (MFA)--Rochester Institute of Technology, 1989. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 20).