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This project was an exploration of transforming paper ephemera into a nonephemeral soft sculpture. Thinking about how much we waste away little pieces of paper and stuff full of information and design, I wanted to memorialize the mundane and short-lived into something more special, tactile, and object-like. I have been collecting fruit stickers for that reason and also have attempted to hand embroider before. However, the scale of those stickers was so tiny that it was nearly impossible to recreate them by hand. So for this project, I wanted to try machine embroidery to achieve the details and precision that a hand embroidery might lack.

Learning the language of machine embroidery was definitely a challenge. It was hard for me to picture how the embroidery would render in a machine, and I realized how much more intuitive it is to embroider by hand. Numerous attempts were made. It was incredibly challenging having to start over whenever there was an error during embroidering since there was no go back button in an embroidery machine. Because I was working with such a complex but small design, I was disappointed to see details getting incomprehensible. Through this experience, I realized that even the machine cannot render perfect and precise embroidery, or at least I cannot. Also, the finishing process leaves something to be desired as there are a lot of loose threads.

Though there were multiple challenges on the way, I feel very accomplished with what I have made. I was able to make all the embroidered objects precisely the same size as the original. Also, as I was embroidering, I learned something new about the machine, the program, or the design each time, which makes me extremely excited to work more and perfect the technique. I am genuinely thrilled at the potential of this project. I want to make more of these.

I also learned that machine embroidery is a lot of work, different from hand embroidery, but still a lot of time, effort, and care. Previously, I thought machine embroidery was too clean and perfect looking, and it lacked the care and love that hand embroidery has. However, doing this project, I still found myself really caring about the embroidery, even though I was not making the stitches myself.

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Over the break, I looked at a lot of machine embroidery tutorials and used Inkscape to make two designs of fruit stickers. I still have to learn how to finalize the design that is ready for the machine but these two will be the test run, which will hopefully work so I can make more intricate and bigger embroideries.

Core concept

I am interested in paper ephemera and transforming them into objects, which then become less ephemeral and more permanent. For my final project, I want to recreate paper ephemera into a collection of soft sculptures. Referencing my collection of fruit stickers, shipping labels, stamps, etc, I want to embroider a softer version of those things, using thread, fabric, beads, and sequins. This would be an investigation of designs of such items as well. Through this project, I want to learn how to use machine embroidery, so not only do I get to mimic a design but also I can create my own design of non-ephemera soft sculptures.

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Choice of Materials

Embroidery machine

Embroidery thread and needles

Beads

sequins

Practical Timeline

11/28- finalize the designs and acquire materials

12/2- learn using embroidery machine from center for creative inquiry and make at least two finished designs 

12/7 finish embroidery with bead/seuquins

12/9 get the embroidery off the loom and make them into solid objects 

1. More virtual reality 

An online presence will be more valued than the real one in the future. People will care more about what their virtual persona looks like. Digital fashion will be well established and major fashion brands will work on digital fashion first and then try and translate that into real clothes.

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1. Change in clothing production. 

The clothing and textile production will be too much of an issue on global carbon emmission, I predict that the world will stop the production of textile entriely and only use existing materials. Technology to recylcle materials will develop even more and every new clothes will be made with existing fabric and fiber. Also, the manufacturing system will be forced to change so that clothing is made after the weared decides on the exact color, design, and size through digital app. Personal 3D printer that we could use to download clothes and print our own clothes will be distributed. This way, every clothing is unique to the wearer and no waste is created while production.

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1. Change in the way of communication

We will move away from text-based communication to sound and visual based. Virtual communication will be the norm. Also, we will be able to to send touch, smell, and taste without written or spoken language.

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1. Due to virtual reality being the norm, people will long for real experience.

Especially tactile experience will be valued highly. Like ASMR, there will be entertainment invloving tactile senses and people will monetize it. Human to human interaction without any digital element and audience involved will also be valued highly.

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This weaving project was a continuation of exploring moire patterns. I am interested in moire patterns that interfere with images, especially images of the past. Often through transer of media, images get distorted with these intricate waves. To me, those patterns symbolize the difficulty of accessing certatin memoires that are only remembered and brought upon through technology. 

While my initial plan was to use photo-printed fabric to create a weaving that resembles an image with a moire pattern, with the time limitation, I have decided to create a framework that resembles the moire pattern itself. This way, every image underneath the weaving instantly becomes an moire-interfered image. I used plain weaving and interlocking patterns to create a weaving that has irregular negative spaces. I selected colors that are often seen in moire patterns, allowing me to explore various color combinations. 

Using only two or three strands at a time for the most part, the process was extremely time-consuming. Instead of depicting the exact pattern, I created an abstract version of  a moire. Doing so, I could finish the project in time and achieve a similar effect of a moire. However, since moire patterns are very mathematical and precise, I could also see the pattern being less legible as a moire but more of an abstraction. A thorough planning of where the weaving departs and merges could make it more moire-like. Also, cleaning up the strands of yarns to the back of the weaving was another process I have not thought about while weaving, which also took a considerate amount of time to do. After taking the weaving off the loom, I used embroidery threads and needle to further secure the strands at the back. 

Through this project, I learned how to manage time and continue an artistic vision with minimal compromises. Since weaving is such a time consuming process, there were certainly more ideas that I could not implement in this project. Learning how to make quick changes to your idea to meet a deadline or your weaving ability was difficult, but ultimately a very valuable lesson to learn. 

In the future, I would like to continue exploring moire patterns in weaving.  

Five Directions :

1. A similar weaving but with more accurate representation of a moire 
2. Explore different colore scheme, possibly with more muted colors or one color but with different tones
3. Print photograph on a fabric, cut into strips and use those strips for weaving 
4. Differnt sizing of the weaving so it could fit a polaroid film or a giant family portrait. 
5. Use various different yarn and threads to give variety of thickness and texture to the pattern

Erin M. Riley

Erin M. Riley

Erin M. Riley

Believe Me wool, cotton 100″ x 94″ 2020

These tapestries are done by Brooklyn-based artist Erin M. Riley. She explores the themes of sexuality and trauma through detailed recreation of selfies of her own tatted body, her collection of possessions, and screenshots of sexual media. She handlooms all her tapestry using salvaged and hand dyed yarn to create this massive tapestry images.

Following is the website of the artist:

https://erinmriley.com/section/19419.html