Script: 'Alex Newell, UAL Presentation, Final Submission', 17/06/20 "For my final submission I aimed to present relations between my interest in fine art and fashion design. By using my ideas from clothing items I have sold through my fashion brand ‘V-98’ I have been able to create artwork with the use of collage. I have presented a combination of materials used to create the prints for clothing to represent the ideas of a process being the final outcome. Using such things as transfer and vinyl cut outs, baking sheets, and sealing strips from bags, which the items are packaged in, it has allowed the work to have a story. Suggesting a step by step process on how I would print onto a garment. I decided to then present collages showing the actual designs made for my brand. I did three versions of this, one being organised and the other two being ‘unorganised’. These both highlight the range of different typography and imagery created. These outcomes could question whether this would be seen as advertisement if it was to be displayed in a different surrounding. Just like clothing itself, an item or image can be represented in new ways without changing what is exactly being shown. This is also something I thought about whilst making this painting. Although this is clearly an artwork it also presents subtle branding through the hoodie design the figure is wearing. This is hard to recognise due to the abstract and chaotic style I decided to create this image in. Relations to earlier work are shown through some of my water colour paintings which highlight each different shade of colour with a black marker. I have aimed to present the same style in this piece, whilst allowing influences from fashion to be shown. Due to the Covid-19 Lockdown I had to change the setting of where this work was going to be presented. By putting my work up in the sitting room of where I live it allows the outcomes to have more personality. During most of my studies I have been working from home, including the production of clothing brand outcomes. By having my exhibition space in the same location that I have been making the work allows the process for these pieces to be more personal. Through the photographs taking of this curation I have allowed the work to blend in with the surroundings of the room it is presented in. This is shown by the ordinary objects such as the chair, treadmill and plant being in the way of the art presented on the walls. This gives the work a whole new feel compared to how it would have be shown in a gallery space, making the overall outcome more simplistic. As I wanted to present clutter through the outcomes this idea works perfectly. In some of the images taken I am seen wearing an outfit made earlier on during this unit. This again helps combine fashion and fine art into one, by presenting ideas of performance through costume design. This could even be seen as advertisement. Experimental imagery through digital photographs also help represent my ideas in a controlled manner. As there was potential for a pop-up shop in the end of year show, I decided to present my own version of this by creating hoodies with a design from a collage seen on the wall. This allows the themes of process, fashion, and collage to be highlighted by just one outcome of work. Making subtle changes from the original collage, through mentions of branding, help separate the idea into something new. Overall I am happy with the outcome of this curation as I have allowed focus on my own interests. Allowing the process of other works to be their own final outcomes, whilst presenting a wide range of mediums to highlight the work I have been doing throughout the year."
Script: 'Alex Newell, UAL Presentation, Unit-8', 07/05/19 "Within my practise this year I have focused much more on expanding the possibilities for creating art for clothing. As I have always been interested with streetwear I find myself taking influence from brands such as Supreme, Palace, and The Hundreds. Whether it be positioning of the designs, colour combinations, or imagery, I have been able to represent my own style within my brand ‘V-98’. By using drawings, paintings, collage, photography, or digital media I have been able to make my work interactive. Instead of using them for placement on paper I have allowed my artwork to move constantly and be seen by new people every day. By doing this I have been able to express my creatively whilst making advertisement when having myself or someone else wear my items. As well as having someone buy an item and promoting my designs, I have also worked with other creative people to help present professional videos and photographs. By putting them on my website and social media I have allowed the viewers of my brand to see how my work can be represented, expanding ideas by making music loops for videos, and learning how to experiment with photography. Creating images of my items in interesting ways could always be approached differently and used as a fine art piece itself instead of an advertisement that viewers would only see on digital platforms. When discussing ideas with my lecturer he suggested on making work in the opposite way. Instead of using designs for clothing I should experiment with how they would look on paper, being painted. This allowed my work to be less graphic design and more fine art due to the materials and process that I would be dealing with. I did this for one of my designs named ‘MORNING’ as it reminded me of a still life painting that you could see being done of a collection of fruit. Adding the pills and plastic cup allows the painting to look more modern due to possible assumptions that could be made when looking at it. I have also used large scale paintings for graphics, using graffiti and acrylic paints to show texture that you would see when looking at a canvas on a wall. Looking into artist such as Futura 2000 allows myself to see how open I can be with my outcomes. From his live performances, limited stock in screen prints, toys, and clothing it influences myself to try out new things. For a university group project I have decided to yet again focus on clothing. This allowed me to collaborate on designs for the first time. There are four members, myself, Lan, Vince, and Li and have named our brand ‘UNIT-8’. This allows our name to have meaning due to it being the title of our course unit, giving an understanding of how this project came together. We all seem to have our own styles, with focus and interest on many subjects. We have created a wide range of items with many colours to choose from, each design being unique and different from the rest whilst allowing the viewer of these pieces to know each of our approaches. By working together we have been able to discuss arrangements and sizing for designs, allowing ideas to become open minded. We have also thought of new ideas together such as using different mediums such as tie dye to create limited edition items. I am very happy with our collaborative brand and we all aim to carry this on during our break from studies. We have created some designs separately whilst having some being a collaboration piece. This works well as it gives more options and allows the audience we attract to expand in to specific interest of design. This gives us all a platform."
Script: 'Alex Newell, UAL Presentation, Process', 13/05/18 "For the exhibition I had decided to focus on presenting something that works on and off paper, allowing me to expand ideas with the processes behind the work I have created. I have made three pieces. Two of them present the motions from cleaning my brush when making the third piece which shows characters that I have presented in previous pieces of work. I used these imaginative figures within this process as I was curious to see how they would look with the use of different mediums due to previously only ever showing them with felt tip pens. I feel this came into consideration after looking into artist such as KAWS and Keith Haring who both present forms of characters with their works and I liked how it allowed the viewer to see these figures as more of a signature. I have focused on the process of work before by wiping acrylic onto a hoodie whilst doing an abstract painting. During tutorials I was recommended to research Keith Haring and I feel my work has many comparisons with his. We both use bold outlines, and allow our work to be simplistic which then evolve to being fairly detailed due to the amount that goes on with some of the creations. I also feel that his interest with street culture, and streetwear allow me to see a similar direction. By using more than just a piece of paper to create art. I feel that KAWS is also a good example for this as he would take posters and make something thats usually seen as commercial work, or advertisement and change it into fine art. As I have been interested in printing graphics on clothes I feel these two artist inspire me even more due to their collaborations with big streetwear brands. I feel that it allows their collaborations to change fashion into collectable art pieces. Interactive art that people can show in more than just one place. I have used clothes to create artwork in the past and with the recent process work I feel I could expand on that by using it for design purposes, possibly taking the shapes from the paintings and rearranging them across a t-shirt, showing influences for camouflage designs from brands such as Bape. A large drawing that I had done before looking into these artist allowed me to think about the size of the paper or canvas that I was using. I liked the idea of producing a drawing that seemed stretched as it allows the viewer to follow from one end to the other if they wanted to. This gives the work a journey that I feel makes it interactive. This has come into relations and influence for my two process pieces as I feel someone can still look from one end to the other. As there is no clear path through the work it allows the viewer to make it their own choice, which allows each person to experience the piece in a unique way. I have also considered rotating work from its original form. By changing a work from landscape to portrait or doing the opposite which allows the outcomes to change. Matthew Ritchie’s work has made me think about presenting work on more than just a new material but has now made me think about possibly cutting out shapes and making the actual exhibition space my canvas. This could be achieved by sticking the shapes on to the walls separately or having the shapes piled up on the floor in no particular order. This would be something I would enjoy experimenting with as I have been interested in the Dadaist art movement and I feel I could show aspects of that with my presentation. Referring to the Projection project I feel the work I did for that link to my two process exhibition pieces. From the overlapping of lines in my old and new work, I have been able to create something that is more layered than what I usually aim to do. For the Projection project I had drawn out the shapes first with a pen then filled them in with colour, but with the exhibition work I have created my first layer of work from using paints. By doing the opposite of what I normally would have done I feel this allows me to think more of the colours I want to use and how I want my work to be presented instead of thinking about what I’m exactly drawing to start with. I like the unexpected approaches from these pieces. By starting with paints its hard to see how the work is going to look when finished due to the pen outlines possibly making shapes look darker and busier than others, including the three figures which could look much more distorted than expected. I have done similar things before by experimenting with my techniques. For a few pieces I had completed I decided to avoid moving my hand off the paper, without looking at it when staring at pictures from fashion magazines. This allowed each figure to layer over each other, with completely disfigured outcomes. This then brought me on to filling in the shapes that I had made which changes the entire look of the work. Furthering my ideas for the future I would like to question myself on what would be looked at as advertisement or fine art. I have an interest with collage and photography and after looking into KAWS I believe I have followed a similar approach. Over my first year of studying at university I feel I have expanded my work from outside a sketchbook which I found difficult to achieve in the past. I use the work from my sketchbooks to give me new ideas that I feel would work well on a larger scale. This has made me more confident with working in new environments due to influences that I can find when thinking of ways to present a certain piece. After doing my first exhibition for this years work I feel I have more understanding on what to think about for the final show. This includes having a backup for when I don’t get to show my work in a space I was hoping for. This goes back to thinking of new ways on presenting my pieces by possibly going against traditional ideas, avoiding the walls, or allowing the work to interact with the space on the day of planning. Print making has also been a big interest for me and I would like to experiment with it more in the future by possibly using it through sculpture and graffiti. From this I aim to take more advantage of the facilities that are on offer by exploring new machinery and equipment to create something new and surprising compared to much of my other work that I have been doing."