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Textile arts

One of the focus areas for the area of study: Design is textile arts. If you are considering this focus area for your Major Textile Project this tutorial will provide some inspiration and some tips on how to label or caption your work and how to present your textile art.

Outcomes
This material addresses aspects of the following syllabus outcomes:

H2.1 The student communicates design concepts and manufacturing specifications to both technical and non-technical audiences.

Source: Board of Studies NSW, Stage 6 Textiles and Design Syllabus, Preliminary and HSC Courses (2007)

Inspiration

The Thread Studio This site allows students to explore the work of 10 different textile artists. They can see samples of their work, and read about their inspiration and the type of textile art they use.

Research
Visit www.ggcreations.com.au . This is a useful search tool for textile arts and crafts.

You will find the journal Textile Fibre Forum's web site at www.ggcreations.com.au/tafta/ . This journal is an excellent source of inspiration and background reading for textile arts.

Another worthwhile journal is Country Craft, available from newsagents.

Labelling textile arts

In the manufacturing specifications section of the supporting document for the Major Textiles Project you are required to provide a label for your textile item. While this is relatively straight forward for something like apparel or furnishings it can be a little trickier for a textile art (depending on its form).

Click on http://www.craftact.org.au/portfolios/Textiles and take a look at the work of the following Australian textile artists; they give some indication of what might be included on a label, although they do not provide all the information required for the HSC.

Morgan James (view work titled - Dichasium)
Valerie Kirk
Annie Trevillian

Here is a sample label for a hand painted, machine embroidered textile art.

Layered flowers

Hand painted silk
Machine and hand embroidery
Metallic and polyester thread
Polyester and cotton backing
Cotton velvet background
800 mm x 600 mm x 75 mm
Treated with Scotchguard
Vacuum regularly using a soft brush
Made in Australia
by
Silk Endeavours

Presentation

All textile items and supporting documents need to fit into a package not exceeding 0.2 cubic metres. See page 36 of the Textiles and Design syllabus. This is a significant design consideration, especially if you are focussing on textile arts. Apart from affecting the size it may affect the presentation. Frames or bulky structures can add a lot of extra bulk and weight.