Zoe Atkinson

I visited the Royal Academy of Arts Summer Exhibition. The textures within the exhibits were what caught my attention. I found that the changes of natural objects were particularly interesting because of the way they naturally decompose but the way they disfigure due to them being processed unnaturally. It made me consider the beauty and art that is created unintentionally and uncontrollably. As an example rusting metal, rotting wood even the wear on car tires. 

A cropped image of a charred wooden block. At the Royal Academy of Art Summer Exhibition.

David Nash is a sculptor who uses wood. His work inspires me because he uses raw edges in his work. To me this is a very honest way of working by allowing the medium you are using to be beautiful out right by it's self.Although wood as a medium for my Textiles based projects wouldn't be something I could use, many of it's qualities can be translated through yarn. Also the formation of the fabric could relate to this style of sculpture and could have three dimensional qualities.

On a quest to find inspiration within the small mundane things around where I live, the things that I usually over look, but from seeing the RCA Summer Exhibition I wanted to look at the things that are not in a state that generally would be considered 'perfect'. This tire has a formation that was intended for reasons beyond its appearance, there has been a lot of control in its design though as its been used the wear on the tire has happened through no design control. With that thought I want to consider pieces of art work I could create with a lot of design control then allow the piece to gain character through no control of my own. Possibly through weather or sanding it down.

my close up image of a car tire

ELLE Decoration is always a big source of inspiration as I am very interested in interior design, I would like my textiles career to link closely to interior, whether that be with fabric or more sculptural pieces like lighting. The August 14 edition caught my eye because of its uses of drift wood for furniture. I like the uses of natural materials and the colour schemes are neutral. The interior has been upcycled from 'dyed grain stacks' which has interesting textures in it.