Inflatables & Soft Sculpture

/ Assignment Info

Protector / Companion

Due: Wed., April 29

For this assignment, you will create a Protector or Companion as a soft sculpture hybrid of (at least) two animal forms. The spirit of this assignment is to use found patterns (of two or more animals) and transform them into something creative and new by combining them together.  You are provided with felt and muslin fabrics to choose from, or you can use fabrics you have found on your own. In this assignment you will learn some technical skills of using patterns and hand-sewing, as well as develop your creativity, flexibility and experimentation.

Here are a few ideas that might inspire your direction:

  • What kind of animal qualities feel protective?
  • What kind of animal qualities help you feel supported or comforted?
  • Imagine a trans-animal (aka an animal that wants to transition to another animal) – what would the animal be and what would it be transitioning to?
  • Imagine an unusual cloning or GMO project that we have not seen before. What is the resulting animal?
  • Imagine a new mythic creature and took on elements from each animal.
  • Imagine a new chimera.
    • Chimera definition:
      • (in Greek mythology) a fire-breathing female monster with a lion’s head, a goat’s body, and a serpent’s tail.
      • a thing that is hoped or wished for but in fact is illusory or impossible to achieve.
      • an organism containing a mixture of genetically different tissues, formed by processes such as fusion of early embryos, grafting, or mutation.
  • Feel free to play with repetition, such as you could have many legs, tails, ears, etc.
  • You can also play with scale with your new animal, for example: what if the tails were exceptionally long? or the feet exceptionally big? (you can enlarge those pattern pieces by using a xerox machine)

You will also need to think about what your new animal is stuffed with. The filling will affect the feel, weight, posture, and character of the new animal. We will provide some basic polyfill stuffing material, but you can also experiment with the stuffing. Here are few possibilities:

  • polyfill
  • rice
  • dried beans or lentils
  • sand
  • foam

Very important reminder:  You must add a 1/4″ or 1/2″ seam allowance on to all of the patterns when you cut them out of fabric. While most store bought patterns will already include seam allowance, these particular patterns do NOT include seam allowance so you must add them.

Come prepared to share photographs of your Protector / Companion with the class for critique. Upload documentation to the class website for the critique.

 

Basic Animal Patterns and Instructions:

More Complex Animal Patterns & Instructions:

Stuffed Forms book:

Viewings:

Other links: