Building to Think:

Creative Storytelling Exploration with
Non-traditional Materials

Client

N/A

Year

2022

Type

Sculpture, Digital Art

Duration

4 weeks

Project Overview →
For this exploration task, I explored the design principles form and function through the idea of play. This experimentation exercise with paper propelled me to reconsider the possibilities of creating through making. Additionally, it aided me in developing my design skills.

Focusing on how to harness my creativity to think outside the box, delving into the unique storytelling medium the craft offers.

Four sculptures were made, each exploring concepts of identity, womanhood, struggle, grit, and overcoming adversity.

Model 1 – Mother, Martyr, and Movement: Process

The model embodies the ideas and discourse surrounding the definition of womanhood, her place in society, and other aspects of early feminism. It implies that if one is prepared to accept the possibilities, they ought to pick up the book. The talking points in the work question cultural beliefs from the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

The predominant evangelical Christian perspective on women and their place in society is criticised in this piece of art. It focuses particularly on the ways in which religion, belief, and women interact and change across time. Pattern symmetry is used to expose and refute the evangelical concept of complementarianism.

Since not all women have vaginas, I acknowledge and recognise that this piece appeals to a cisgender social norm of what a woman is, which makes it less inclusive and well-rounded. This piece, which primarily addresses issues affecting white cisgender women, strikes me as a representation of feminist movements from the past. I would love to expand on intersectional feminism and challenge this piece in future work. The book has opened, presenting chances and provoking discussion. It is time to put this story behind us and redefine what it means to be a woman.

Folded Model 2 – Nature vs Nurture: Process

The gender binary's fragility and restrictiveness are dismantled by the folded model. DNA is represented by the symmetrical repeats, which raises the possibility that gender is something that humans know biologically from birth.

The chain contends that we have been bound to our memories, beliefs, and experiences since birth. The beliefs and treatment you receive from society based on the fallacious idea that gender is determined by sex.

The piece's hues and squiggles refute both ideas, metaphorically demonstrating through their creative chaos that gender is a fluid, ever-changing representation of who we are at our most content and at ease.

The rainbow colour contrasts sharply with the cramped paper forms that symbolise nature (the symmetrical repeats) and nurture (the paper chain), symbolising the ideas of individualism and identity fluidity taking shape.

Folded Model 3 – And through my weeps you cackle, drowning the sound: Process

A very personal work that stems from my personal experience of fighting to have my pain acknowledged and learning that I had a kidney abscess. While in the hospital, I wondered if there were gender differences in the way that people received medical care: were women less likely than men to receive the proper care when they were in pain because of misogyny? Further investigation led me to understand how widespread this problem is for women and how it disproportionately affects women of colour. Therefore, this work reflects not only my personal experience but also an effort to raise awareness of the widespread pain disparities that women face.

A digital collage of a sculpture. The sculpture is a kidney made out of newspaper, paper painted pink with watercolours, and baking paper with burned holes through it.

The piece's vivid pinks and yellows create overpowering sensations of chaos. Not only do the vivid yellow mouths physically contrast with the pink, but they also do so symbolically, with yellow denoting danger and pink representing care. Generating a strong sense of tension in the end.

A digital collage of a sculpture. The sculpture is a kidney made out of newspaper, paper painted pink with watercolours, and baking paper with burned holes through it.

Folded Model 4 – The Great Xeno (*noun) Affinity: Process

The poignant stargazer lily, a representation of success and perseverance, provides a symbol of hope for women in the present and the future.

It's acknowledging the difficulties and misfortune encountered and continuing to push through and fight back. The flower's colours represent wounds and vitality, recovery, and regrowth.

The flower's crimson veins inspire the observer to recognise that these qualities and attributes are ingrained in us, having been inherited from the resilient women who came before us. They have humbled us, and we will keep fighting for our rights and leading loving, accepting lives.

The concepts presented in the original folded model are expanded upon in this digital work. The leaves stand for women's resilience in the face of hardship and barriers in a culture that consistently places them at a disadvantage. As seen towards the base of the stem, every leaf on this lovely flower protects not only the flower but also the flowers surrounding it and those that are still in the early stages of life. The roots show how deeply ingrained, rich, and highly regarded my passion is. They are veins' representatives.