Hello everyone! I wanted to tell you all about this little activity I did over the long weekend. On Monday, I visited the Renwick Gallery, and the inspiration I found inside surprised me.
The Renwick Gallery is a very small space, with four rooms across 2 floors. Because of this, every piece is carefully and thoughtfully handpicked to make the best use of the space. Unlike other galleries, Renwick places a particular focus on procuring craft and decorative art for the museum. One of the curators of the gallery described craft as art where the method used to make the work is visible. For example, pottery, basket weaving, and stained glass are all forms of craft. On pottery, you can spot the places where the artist molded and moved the clay. With basket weaving, you can see the folds and loops the weaver made.
While I walked through the gallery, I was completely baffled by the pieces I saw and the stories behind them. There was this gorgeous weaved basket with a very heartwarming story about the artist’s family. Another artist created this extremely intricate beaded cloth to bring awareness to global climate change. The works in the Renwick didn’t only highlight the artists’ stellar craftsmanship. The works also highlighted the artists’ storytelling capabilities and messages.
Before I left for the gallery, I told myself that I was going to sketch one design based off of a work that inspired me. Throughout the gallery, I searched for a piece that called my name. Many of the works deserved a second view in my opinion, but there was really only one artwork that I kept lingering around.
Steven Young Lee made the above porcelain vase. The vase’s shape, and the story it told me completely struck me. When you imagine the vase without the huge gaping hole in it, it’s a nice vase. It would look great sitting on some wealthy person’s shelf, but there’s less depth. When I saw the hole in the vase, it prompted me to think about pushing boundaries, but also the beauty in imperfections. On the surface of the vase is crazing which is when the tension between the ceramic body and the glaze forms cracks along the surface. Whether the artists intentionally wanted the crazing or not, it adds more texture and adds to the scene painted on the vase.
The vase inspired me to sketch a strapless jacquard gown with blue printed designs in the style of the vase. Additionally in the center region of the chest, I want it to look like the dress is exploding. The fabric of the dress will flap out and fold onto the dress to create a star shaped hole in the cleavage region. Lastly, the dress has a mermaid style skirt/train. This gown would look so amazing on Anya Taylor-Joy. It’s such a random thought, but I know that she would look absolutely stunning in it. Imagine this gown with some dark blue heels and a diamond necklace and earrings. Joy would stop the red carpet in this look.
I really enjoyed doing this activity because it encouraged me to work on my designs. I thank you all for reading this week’s post. Make sure to subscribe to be notified of the next time I post. Stay sharp 😉