Leah Davies
Week 5 Exhibition
'What Is Normal', 22"x60",
Mixed media patchwork tapestry, October 2021
The week 5 exhibition allowed me to experiment piecing together a variety of portraits from different media in one piece. The important thing was finding what patches should go next to each other and really thinking about the materials, colours and textures. For this piece it was decided to make the tapestry long rather than wide, just to give an idea on how tall it would be come future exhibitions. Tracey Emin was an influence during the process of this piece, considering how she portrayed text in her patchwork quits. I felt it was effective to have the text brightly coloured, to stand out against the fabrics. Unlike Emin's text, sewed in straight lines, I found it effective to have it weaved around the portraits, to create a fluidity to the piece. While also emphasising the idea that these thoughts wrap around all of us and are part of my journey with mental health.
'What Is Normal?' was exhibited along the studio wall, hung by nails. Although this allowed the audience to view the whole tapestry, it gave the piece a similarity to a painting. In the sense that it was flat to the wall, for me, I didn't feel this to be the most effective way to exhibit my piece. The purpose of a traditional tapestry was to tell a story through its sewn pictures, while also having its own movements along the pole it was hung from. For this to be effective, the piece needed form and structure, as it is a three-dimensional textured piece. I found the piece to be the successful starting blocks for a tapestry, that tells a story and weaves together friends, family and thoughts into one artwork. The mixed media elements of this piece reflect the theme of brining many ideas together to create one big story.