Summative Reflection Statement

When I look back over the past few months and completing the exposure module of my third year I have very mixed emotions going through the whole process from the beginning to the end. I wanted to make my final major project about something that I am very passionate about, the environment and all it’s living creatures. The recent bushfires have been something that has devastated not just Australia but the hearts of everyone around and with me. Steve Irwin has always been my hero and inspiration, so I wanted to take this time to give something back and raise awareness for the bushfires and how we need to look at our own lifestyle, business and industry and see what they can possible change to be more environmentally friendly to help the rise of climate change. I wanted to look closes at my own practice and how I could change the way I work to become more environmentally friendly.

I have been so shocked through this process to find out how many chemicals are used in the textiles industry to dye, bleach and treat our clothes and to find that a lot of these chemicals are not disposed of properly. I have discovered natural dyeing and eco dyeing which has become a big influence in my recent work and is something that I want to be able to develop and carry on with in the future. I also decided for this project that all the fabrics I would use will be eco dye, naturally dyed or found fabrics.

The found fabrics have become a big part of my installation and have worked very well especially as most of the fabrics that I have gathered over the months mainly have floral patterns on them, this has been great as they link lovely with the scenery that Australia has in it’s forests and bush.

Over this time research and sketching for this project I have discovered that I really love the use of charcoal so much that I have created my own which I felt was very poignant with my brief being about the bushfires and that is what will be left once the fires stopped. I found it very easy to work with charcoal sometimes I did find it a little tricky. I have very much enjoyed getting to work with different media especially colour as this project has been full of a lot of different colours that I have been able to experiment with along the way.

I have also been able to get back in naturally dyeing more with this project experimenting with different dyestuff to create beautiful colours. During this project I have also been able to look at eco dyeing this has been a huge part of my installation especially with my second panel of my installation. By eco dyeing yellow onion skins I have been able to achieve a range of yellow tones that work great relating to the fire. These have become a huge part of my work and I have really enjoyed working with this type of dyeing. I feel it’s the range of colours you can achieve.

Since the outbreak of Covid-19 I have felt like everything this year has been a little up in the air for me, not knowing what is going to happen next is the hardest part, especially with this being the final year of my journey through university. It felt a sad and upsetting to have to pack up my desk space in university and bring that all home with me knowing I will not being going back and this was it really.

The first week when the news broke out was the hardest, but that being said I sat and thought about it all and that this whole situation can take away my graduation ceremony and degree show but I have no intention of this taking away getting my degree or ruining my grade either. I motivated myself to get my work done. Each day I have wrote a list each morning to make sure that I accomplished everything that I wanted to do that day to make sure that I stayed on track. Even with the two week extension I made it my mission to be able to finished at the original deadline point.

One of the things that I was really determined to do was still create my installation piece I really didn’t want to spend all this time and hard work not to make my final piece. When I first started this I was very hopeful about everything. Then one by one there was a new issue after new issue. At times I did feel like giving up and changing my mind and doing some CAD visuals as this felt the easier way, but one by one I managed to overcome each issue and tackle it. The biggest issue I had was trying to get hold of three big panels. I was very stressed when I didn’t know how to get these from B&Q, then I found a way. Then B&Q said that these were not essential items so I wasn’t able to order them. Then lucky a local business had reopened and I managed to get them from there and bring them back to my apartment.

The installation build itself has felt very rewarding each day I have got up early and gone straight downstairs to start on each of my panels. I am very proud that each day I have motivated myself to get on with each day and know that I am achieving something. I didn’t want anything being taken away from my degree.

Once I had finished creating my installation piece it was very overwhelming to finally look at all my designing and idea in person infant of me. I am beyond happy that I have managed to complete my installation piece, but at the same time as feeling proud I also became very emotional that this was the only celebration I was going to have. I am still upset that we are not getting a proper celebration but I am very happy with my installation.