I have been working on the submission for a polish craft inspired competition since the last week of April in Spain. I ordered the lace, I experimented with sugar water placing it on rocks, I stitched it partially together in Spain and then continued draping on the mannekin with sugar water and stitching in my studio.
Issues: sugar water taking forever to dry, not very durable as it might come out in contact with water. Also; it makes the lace fragile and the threads start to break. Very painful to sew together once hardened
How to fix it: experimenting with potato flour starch and the results so far have been amazing, drying quickly and it looks great, there is clearly visible a thin shiny plastic-like film in the larger holes, which i haven’t yet decided if I like
Willow/wicker leg of the lamp: tying it was a tedious painful but equall fun process, the result is quite unstable so I am trying to figure out what to do.
Issues: unstable because it is tall and thin and only tied together at the bottom. But I don’t want to use the ugly circular stand which I would normally attach to the leg
How to fix it: use glue or epoxy to bond the bottom of the leg together, or built/weld a metal shallow casing for the bottom of the leg. Still not sure if that is going to stabilise it enough
Also experimenting with various other shapes I can make using sugar water/starch and lace
Ideas:
lace flowers shaped on cupss attached to tops of willow sticks
one large square piece draped around a foam roller wrapped with a yoga mat and cling film
lace “just hanging” draped on a glass lampshade to look like it was just hung there. I then started developing another idea from the hanging lace, as it fits perfectly on my face, and when drying I had it attached to my daughters gynastics ball with a string, which now makes it possible to wear as a mask. A lace silencing of a “mother and wife” expectied to be a self respecting and fulfilled woman, whose previous “wild” identity becomes covered and hidden. I decided to add this piece to my next idea, which I will describe in the next post
Issues: constantly doubting myself, when I managed to put the lamp on the stand worried it looked to heavy for the leg, started thinking: who would even understand/enjoy/want to look at sonething and connect, who would even care? It’s too much, too heavy, too personal. If nobody else cares but me, is it worth making?