Sustained Investigation #7

Inquiry Question: How do trees have an impact on communities, including their own and others?

• Inspired by switch in roles of a communities impact on trees and how they use them to come together

• Wanted to add 3D effect w/ yarn and thread 

Reflection on Work: 

Since this was my last piece, I wanted to use materials I hadn’t worked with before, such as yarn and thread. I also wanted to add another 3D element since that’s what I’d done in my 1st and 4th pieces. I was inspired a lot by watching Koba add beading to her last piece, and I truly understood her struggle of sewing onto painted canvas when I tried it. For this piece, I wanted to switch the roles between community and trees because it was the last piece, so I used the idea of yarn bombing as my focus. I researched a lot about yarn bombing and how it's used to bring communities together, which also added to the history behind my piece. I ended up using a reference photo of my own school to make sure proportions were correct, and because that way the painting connected even more to my own personal life, just like SI #6 did. 

This piece used lots of practice and experimentation because I had to relearn how to knit completely. Knitting took some experimenting with colors and different stitch patterns. I also had to sew directly onto canvas, which turned out to be a lot more difficult than I expected. Originally, I wanted to go over all the background trees in the thread (“yarn”), but when I started, I realized the wooden pieces that made up the canvas stopped me from being able to accomplish that, so I had to revise to only do a few trees in the thread. 

This is actually my very last piece, which is bittersweet because it’s been a long time coming, but also it’s sad to see this project be finished. This piece was inspired more by switching the roles of tree and nature, and how humans can create something using trees that brings the community together, such as yarn bombing. I’m very proud of all my work because it truly shows the focus question I was using through different mediums and trees. 

Visual Art Journal:

Robert Forman: Yarn Painting