Evaluation

Evaluation

I think that for this project I have used my time a lot better than in previous projects because I have not spent all my time on the research and I have evened it out a lot better so that I have had time to complete my final piece for the deadline.

 I think that my final piece has worked well because it fits with the project brief of ‘Hidden Nottingham’.  My inspiration is based on my friend who is a teenage mum and who lives in Nottingham.  I want to highlight her as a hidden heroine for bringing up her baby and I would like to project a positive and a supportive approach to all teenage mums in Nottingham.  I feel that they should be recognised as strong people for taking on this role.

 I think my pieces are successful as I have included the idea of sustainability by using found objects and by embellishing the baby grow with materials that I already had at home. Also I am being sustainable by using a blog instead of printing images and text out.

I have thought about cross culture in my final pieces.  This is evidenced because I have used the idea of the stereotypical lifestyle that people in Nottingham, which is a multi cultural city, project onto teenage mums. I have also used the idea of cross culture as the screen print I have made is made up of images of old fashioned toys. This invites older generations to relate to my work as well.

 My work also links in with the design rule of ‘form follows function’ as I have made the negative piece of work to shock the viewers, for example using staining and scarring with the embroidery.  I have stitched in tears coming from the baby’s eyes to show neglect. I decided to use the motif of a kiss (X) but I have subverted the loving meaning of this by cutting them so they become a broken kiss and choosing black silk so that they resemble a mistake like quality or a skull. I used the deer to represents the mother lacking in control and being squashed by the baby’s presence. I thought about burning into the negative baby grow and rubbing grime into it but felt that this would suggest abuse.

In my contrasting piece of work the form follows the function as I am celebrating the role of teenage mums and I am portraying this and converting people’s views. I am doing this by using the imagery of a trophy as part of the design. I have also used traditional colours and hand-made techniques associated with baby clothing, to connect teenage mums with recognisable good mothers. The kisses on this item give a completely different message from the ones in black. Here they look comforting and decorative. Like Jim Dine I have incorporated found objects because I wanted to give playfulness and a sense of nostalgia to my piece; they look like toys.

I chose to work on baby grows as I feel that this item of clothing is instantly recognised as it is a baby shape.

I chose to use the silk screen technique as it was an appropriate way of creating the background imagery to be reflected in both pieces. Also, if I was to develop this further, screen printing is a quick and easy way of mass producing the same image onto many different items.

I would picture both frames of work on a wall in the Nottingham Contemporary Gallery with a loop-recording of my friend sharing her personal story. I feel that this would personalise my piece as well as having the baby grows which can reflect all teenage mums.

For further development I could make my project more sustainable by using baby clothes from charity shops, friends or family.  Also if I had more time I would consider running a workshop with teenage mums to introduce my art piece and to invite them to give me feedback and to share their experiences. If I got funded, I could mass-produce a positive version of the baby grow to be included in a new teenaged mum starter pack which is instantly providing support and a feel good factor.