Manchester Metropolitan University - Jonathan Ferris - 120-945-8209

Found Objects - Mood Board

Research images for a project based on fabric manipulation.

Found Objects - Research

Initial research looking at scarecrows. I discovered this story set in Nagoro Village, Southern Japan about an elderly woman who creates scarecrows of the younger generations who fled to the cities for a better life and of the recently deceased. I became obsessed with the beauty and romanticism of all of this being done by hand.

Primary research looking at people's homes in Hale Village, Liverpool. The scarecrow with the suitcase I grew attached to, the emotion allowed me to develop this a narrative about a scarecrow who wants to travel but is restricted. It was personal as I could relate to this because of when my friends all went to universities in London and I felt left behind almost. I didn't feel ready.

Found Objects - Research

Secondary research reading a book over the Summer. Scarecrows by Colin Garratt. The history and photo documentation of scarecrows enabled me to have an idea of how my project would evolve and to begin thinking of possible initial design ideas. I was attracted to the idea of the clothes looking like they have been worn and handed down, having a story.

Found Objects - Research

After reading about where scarecrows are believed to have been derived from - the pagan practise of slaughtering humans as a sacrifice to nature, this led me to begin looking at cults. I watched Children of the Corn and became obsessed with this idea of ritual. I burnt burlap as a visual fashion representation of cult, ritual and sacrifice. I am deeply fascinated by cults and the idea of worshipping an individual.

I also looked at Christopher Shannon's SS17 collection as his focus was on natural, basic fabrics looking back at his MA Collection (I chose burlap because of how basic a fabric it is, to manipulate). What I love about Christopher Shannon is his contemporary, personal "sportswear" response to everything he does. Christopher Shannon Spring 2017 mixed media illustration.

Found Objects - Development

As my project developed, I began looking at physical and imagined protection. I looked at attack dog suits and I loved the size of them and how they almost suffocate the body, protecting it, serving their purpose.

Initial designs inspired by attack dog suits and quilted burlap sample.

Found Objects - Development

I continued with the concept of protection as it evolved into this sense of imagined protection. I thought a lot about the things or places we feel safe in. The bed and being tucked-in is something I have adapted from my own childhood experience. As a young  child I had my own favourite pillowcase that I took everywhere, creating a personal connection.

I developed some designs looking at quilting, puffa jackets and pillows and how they can work on the body.

Found Objects - Development

I developed initial designs into toiles and looked at the vulnerability of hospital gowns.

Found Objects - Design Ideas

Design ideas. My favourite was the hand-painted, quilted one with hand-weaving, as it had many different fabric manipulations and a lot of work done and touched by hand. Making this garment was a ritual in it's own way. 

Found Objects - Design Board

Final designs for my fabric manipulation project, I will make the last design, the hand-painted one with the quilting and weaving. 

Found Objects - Final Images

Here are the final images of the garments I produced for my Fabric Manipulation project. I feel they tell the story I have developed over the entirety of my project. My project is entitled "Found Objects."

Found Objects - Final Illustration

Final Illustration for my Fabric Manipulation project.

Trans: Children of God - Mood Board

Trans -

referring or relating to people whose sense of personal identity and gender does not correspond with their birth sex.

or change.

I have gathered images to establish a mood for my Cubism project.

Trans: Children of God - Experimenting

As a class, we were asked to experiment with collaging images to question what Cubism means to us today. I tried to show different personalities within each piece.

#mycalvins

Trans: Children of God - Focused Research

I looked at the work of German artist, Annegret Soltau who bluntly collaged and questioned gender in her collections NY Faces and Transgenerative - which I found much more inspiring. I became obsessed with the obvious, almost surgical hand-stitches. I produced an observational study and heat transfer sample with hand-stitching.

Trans: Children of God - Focused Research

"Change" also got me thinking about the idea of reacting to something that had happened prior, rebelling against something. My tutor also told me one of my sketches looked like a habit a nun or monk might wear. Rory Parnell-Mooney's collections show a perfect balance between religious-wear and riot-wear. I was fascinated my the balance and similarities.

Trans: Children of God - Focused Research

These are photographs I found online when I searched the term "riot." They are from the Bobby Sands riots in Belfast, Northern Ireland during the early 1980's. I was thinking about Brexit, about "change" questioning it and then demanding it. An observational study of Raf Simons' Spring 2002 collection.

"Woe unto those who spit on the fear generation…The wind will blow it back."

Trans: Children of God - Design

Design ideas developed from gallery visit to Francis Bacon: Invisible Rooms at Tate Liverpool. I see Francis Bacon's work almost as a dark, modern, subverted twist on Cubism in it's simplest of terms. The perfect mood I wanted my collection to convey.

Trans: Children of God - Design Board

A detailed design board of the garments I made for my Cubism Project.

Trans: Children of God - Final Images

Final Images for my Cubism Project. The end-of-year fashion was a really exciting moment. The photographs underneath are taken near Hale Village Lighthouse and in my grandparent's home as they have furniture that has a 80's aesthetic that was perfect to be photographed alongside my collection. My final collection is entitled "Trans: Children of God."

Trans: Children of God - Final Illustration

Final Illustration of the oversized hoodie shown in my "Trans: Children of God" collection.