project report

Wallpaper project report

Historical prospective
Throughout this project I have researched a range of current and historical wallpapers. I have also attended workshops and critical tutorials, which have been very useful throughout the development of my work. I started this project by researching into historical wallpapers and also visited Temple Newsam House which was very informative. I learned a vast amount of information about wallpapers from the past. This was a good starting point to the project because it allowed me to understand the background wallpaper from the production to the wall, and how important it was to people in the past.

Wallpapers were imported from around the world for instance, floral papers from china. England was the first to produce flock wallpaper using sheep wool as it was cheaper then imitated velvet. Interestingly historical papers were nailed on the walls and some were stuck on with glue made from animals. We looked at some good quality wallpapers and some that were not as good in quality but looked more or less the same. The thicker the wallpaper the higher the quality and the thinner paper showed that the quality was less. When printing machines were introduced the quality dropped and this was proved during the period of the Great Exhibition of 1851. It was found that although Britain had the latest technologies and was full of good scientists, we were lacking quality design. However since then the Arts and Craft movement and William Morris began a rebellion against industrialisation.

Personal research
I started to gather a collection of wallpapers that I found appealing by researching the themes Hortus Botanicus (florals, nature and organics), Toile du jouy (scenes of the day), and Trompe l’oeil (making the unreal look real, illusions). I looked through magazines, websites, books and present wallpapers in shops and then put these together creating a research file.
I was most inspired by traditional patterning so I decided to pursue a project associated with oriental pattern. I considered looking at elements of Japanese, Chinese and Indian design. I research into Japanese and Chinese designers and also visited some Indian fabric stores looking at traditional pattern. Exploring these cultures I found a connection in pattern with Chinese/Japanese pattern and traditional Indian henna designs. The fabrics I looked at appeared to be very decorative I personally like the embroidery and stitch work therefore was inspired to add this towards my final wallpaper idea, maybe considering it to be an illusion, as some of the wallpaper themes I was looked at were illusions. I found that the illusion could be very simple, as simple as an ordinary object surrounding us in our everyday lives. I then thought it would be interesting to have a sample of finished wallpaper with stitching on and possibly scan and print this to show a false impression of stitch. The illusion wallpaper artist whose work I am inspired by is Deborah Bowness. I feel her work is very impressive and find that the illusions she creates are very simple and are connected with our everyday surroundings. Therefore I feel she has been successful in making the unreal look real, because if I was in front of this book shelf I would be tempted to reach out for a book, and that is exactly what I would like the reaction of others to be when looking at the wall covering I produce. I came across the work of Claire Coles which I found very inspiring to what I am aiming for in my final designs. I would like to produce a finished piece of three dimensional wallpaper using stitch and then make it two dimensional by scanning and reprinting which will hopefully give the appearance of it being three dimensional.
Processes
I looked at traditional henna patterning and created did some drawing, some inspired by others and some self inspired as I have a background with henna my self. I noticed that florals were very popular in the henna designs and in most of the wallpapers I looked at. At this stage of the project the books I looked at were; Kashmiri shawl, Tricia Guild Pattern, Fabrics and Wallpapers, and The Cutting Edge of Wallpapers. I created some drawings inspired from these books using drawing techniques, collage, paint, ink, pencil, pens and stitch.
I collected some wildflowers and created some observational drawings in different scales using different techniques and media. From these drawings I used my imagination and played around with the form, shape and size and produced arrange of motifs. I then used these motifs in the method of the traditional Henna pattern producing a flow of traditional pattern. I experimented with these patterns using layering and different shades and thickness of line, then applied these patterns to Gesso, Laser cutting, Adobe illustrator and Lino printing techniques. The Gesso technique worked well but I didn’t consider using it through the project as it did not fit in with the outcome I wanted to achieve. However I was very pleased with the lino prints and worked into them using stitch.

The stitched pieces worked very well I especially liked those with cream coloured thread, as it sat on the white paper very well, showing a very delicate subtle effect. I printed the lino stencil on different papers, some on existing wallpapers, newsprint, brown paper and cartridge paper. I particularly liked the prints on the brown paper I worked into these by using black thread and the outcome was very versatile. I also experimented with the photocopier playing around with the scale of the patterns I created and layered patterns over each other with embroidery.

These photocopies were then used to experiment the foiling process. I was very happy with the result of these samples and considered using these ideas towards my final piece. I found that foiling was another practical use of the ink in the lino printing process as well as the use of photocopies. I used Adobe illustrator to experiment with the positioning of my motifs, allowing me to have an understanding of what pattern, position and backgrounds would be successful. I tried out the laser cutter to progress some of the patterns I created using illustrator. I also used silkscreen to process some of the motifs I created; I was very pleased with the end result of these and used them towards my final designs. I layered the patters on top of each other and stitched on top of these. I then scanned and printed these creating a selection of final designs.

Throughout the project I feel I have achieved some very good outcomes. I found that the processes learnt in the workshops were very useful towards the project development and will be useful in further projects. I also found the trip to Temple Newsam House very information and especially the Chinese room as it was full of oriental pattern. I looked at many historical types of wallpaper and I found that much of the design was similar to what we have today, showing that the past continues to be a huge influence on design today.

munaza ahmed