"Essence, All that makes Us what We are"
The Fibre Artist Network of South Australia had a group exhibition in 2013 titled "Essence" a self portrait textile exhibition open to interpretation.
Each participating member created an art work exactly 60cm by 80cm with the theme of self portrait. The artist could determine what makes up their "Essence". The exhibition was on display in the Pepper Street Arts centre in Magil Adelaide.
My art work titled "Pyrolysis & Perfume" is a combination of two images. One is of me wearing breathing apparatus (BA) used by the Country Fire Service (CFS) and the other is a head shot.
The CFS is a volunteer organisation overseen by the South Australian government. It trains people from all walks of life who usually live in a rural or remote are to become fire fighters. In an emergency the volunteers respond to bush fires, motor vehicle accidents, storm damage, building fires etc. We don't get paid!
Originally I overlaid a sketch of me in BA over a printed picture. The resulting image was very ghostly and would be hard to translate into textiles. I had considered having a raw edge appliqué face in the background with a sheer organza overlay that had a machine embroidered line outline of the BA portrait. This didn't seem colourful enough for me so the design retained the base images and they were split down the middle.
Each picture was gridded and then hand draw onto paper the actual size of the finished quilt. One side showing the BA with the aid delivery valve swapped to the other side to make the image more balanced.
From this drawing I outlined the main lines in pen and traced the section ready for fabric. Each layer of fabric is backed with Vlisofix Appliqué webbing and cut out into the shape and applied to give shadow and features. I chose a purple tonal colour pallet as this is my signature colour, and sometimes I even have purple hair!
Trying out background options for the quilt.
Almost finished both sides of my face.
But it wasn't a balanced picture and needed more embellishments. I added a hat to the Perfume side to balance out the hight and incorporated more clothing to both sides.
This is a test run with some purple metallic fabric folded under the hair to simulate a top. The hat is cut from the hem of a blouse, pleated and accented with a beaded flower motif that was once on the V of a neckline. It had to be altered by removing some of the beads so that the long ribbons could be folded around to form loops. The CFS jacket was still in it's original shape and needed to be lengthened.
This image shows the hat and clothing complete, Burnt edge organza and polyester flowers were added to the hat and neckline with beaded centres.
I also added a scissor brooch signifying my sewing addiction.
Freehand machine embroidery in polyester thread was used to add shadow, highlights, texture and depth over both sides of the portrait.
Table cloth plastic was used over the face mask, eye glasses and goggles to give the reflective quality of the surface.
Once the main areas were bonded together the next step was to add the backgrounds behind each side. I chose contrasting colours that complimented each other as the purple and yellow had.
The pink, yellow swirly leaf fabric has a fire light quality that reflectes the colours on the CFS side. The dark purple spotty fabric looks like rain droplets on a dark inky watery surface which contrasts well with the bright yellow of the CFS uniform.
But it wasn't a balanced picture and needed more embellishments. I added a hat to the Perfume side to balance out the hight and incorporated more clothing to both sides.
This is a test run with some purple metallic fabric folded under the hair to simulate a top. The hat is cut from the hem of a blouse, pleated and accented with a beaded flower motif that was once on the V of a neckline. It had to be altered by removing some of the beads so that the long ribbons could be folded around to form loops. The CFS jacket was still in it's original shape and needed to be lengthened.
This image shows the hat and clothing complete, Burnt edge organza and polyester flowers were added to the hat and neckline with beaded centres.
I also added a scissor brooch signifying my sewing addiction.
The CFS jacket was extended to the bottom and I added a 3D element to the strap with a piece of piping cord covered with grosgrain ribbon. It was threaded under two strips of black fabric, recreating the way the air hose is secured to the strap.
Table cloth plastic was used over the face mask, eye glasses and goggles to give the reflective quality of the surface.
The background fabrics were chosen to compliment the limited pallet of colours but also to highlight the two elements of undulating fire and deep tranquil water.
Original images used for art work
The Inspiration
“Pyrolysis & Perfume” shows two very different sides of my life. “Perfume” as a Textile Artist represented in my favorite colour, purple, wearing fancy cloths and hat. And the other side, “Pyrolysis” where you can’t really see my face because it is covered by a breathing apparatus face mask, shows me as a volunteer in the CFS. Both personas are in my Essence, but they don’t mix together very often.
As a member of the South Australian Country Fire Service (CFS) I volunteer my time to help the community, but I get so much more out than just the satisfaction of helping others in there time of need. The camaraderie and mate ship formed with the members of my brigade and others met on the fire ground, valuable training and experiences. I have trained to be a CABA operator (compressed air breathing apparatus) who can fight a structure fire from a position where breathing equipment is needed. The mask encloses my face, with a balaclava, helmet and specialized protective clothing. All you can see are my eyes and my voice becomes very Darth Vader like.
Pyrolysis is usually the first chemical reaction that occurs in the burning of many solid organic fuels, like wood, cloth, and paper, and also of some kinds of plastic. In a wood fire, the visible flames are not due to combustion of the wood itself, but rather of the gases released by its pyrolysis, whereas the flame-less burning of a solid, called smoldering, is the combustion of the solid residue (char or charcoal) left behind by pyrolysis. Thus, the pyrolysis of common materials like wood, plastic, and clothing is extremely important for fire safety and firefighting. (Wikipedia)
If you are in the CFS you may notice there are parts of my uniform and equipment that are not accurate.
Spot the “Artistic License” taken with my CFS equipment.
- I’m wearing my yellow rural helmet with out the clip on white structure helmet over the top. Yellow because I’m a lieutenant, the white looked to stark.
- My bushfire fighting goggles are still on the helmet. I liked the extra red.
- I don’t have my pull down visor in place covering my mask and face. To hard to recreate and covered to much up.
- The regulator for my mask is depicted on the wrong side in the art work. This allows me to add more red down the lower half of the work and the hose line mimics the neckline of flowers nicely.
These are all things I have chosen to wear or changed to enhance the visual appearance and balance the colour of the art work.