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"Writing 101: The 12 Literary Archetypes" - MasterClass

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"Writing 101: The 12 Literary Archetypes" - MasterClass

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One of the initial pieces of research I did for the "Hunter Gatherer" project was reading this article about the 12 Jungian archetypes. To enhance my understanding of the brief, I made the following notes about the 5 archetypes we were given the option to study:

The Everyman is a relatable character who can be identified in our daily lives. They are grounded and ordinary, lacking in special powers, and may be unprepared when met by extraordinary circumstances.

The Jester is a funny character who often speaks truths through humour. They are disarming and insightful, but they can be obnoxious or superficial.

The Explorer is a character who has the desire to explore the unknown and challenge the status quo. They are curious and driven, but can be restless, unreliable, and insatiable.

The Magician is a powerful character who uses the ways of the universe to achieve their goals. They are omniscient, omnipotent, and disciplined, but can be arrogant and easily corrupted.

The Outlaw is a rebel who has no regard for society's demands. They are independent thinkers and are virtuous, and may be potential criminals.

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"You are fluent in this language (and don't even know it)" - Christoph Niemann

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"You are fluent in this language (and don't even know it)" - Christoph Niemann

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As an extension of the second project workshop, we were asked to listen to and make notes from this Christoph Niemann talk. He discussed the fact that everyone is fluent in the language of reading images without even being aware of it. Images allow us to communicate ideas that should be very complicated in very simple ways. He discussed the fact that the same images can be combined, simplified or made to be more abstract based on the intention of the artist, and these decisions can be made based on the visual and cultural vocabularies of the audience. This was very useful to listen to, and it reminded me that I should always think about my audience when making decisions for my project, because I have a tendency to assume that my audience has the same cultural vocabulary as me.

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"A Giant Puppet of a Refugee Girl to Travel 8,000 Km across Turkey and Europe" - Matt Alagiah

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"A Giant Puppet of a Refugee Girl to Travel 8,000 Km across Turkey and Europe" - Matt Alagiah

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I discovered this article on the reading list, and it struck my interest due to it’s exploration of the use of puppets as a form of activism. The project was created by Good Chance, a humanitarian theatre company, who saw the puppet as “an emblem of millions of displaced refugee children separated from their families”. The puppet was a depiction of a 9-year-old refugee girl called Little Amal who travelled 8,000 kilometres across Turkey and Europe to find her mother. Amal’s journey began at the Turkey-Syria border and continued through 7 European countries. In each of these places, the puppet was welcomed with art, music, dance, theatre, parades and community events. The project opened up a conversation amongst international audiences who shared Amal’s story as well as her own. This art project created a tangible demonstration of the treacherous and long journeys refugees undertake to survive or find their families, and many non-refugee communities partook in creative learning projects as a result of it.

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As the first project of my BA in Illustration, I was given the brief of creating a puppet to accompany me during the next stage in my life. I could create a puppet of any shape or size, medium or colour, that I wanted. My puppet was to fit into one of the following Jungian archetypes: the Everyman, the Explorer, the Jester, the Magician, or the Outlaw. During this project, I will work on skills such as character design and concept development.

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For a long time, I have wanted to create an art piece exploring the "Wise Woman" archetype. Wise women have existed throughout history in numerous forms in almost every culture. They are often extremely knowledgable in matters such as herbal healing and traditional lore. The wise woman may possess skills such as fortune-telling or potion-brewing, or she may even be a source of spiritual wisdom or guidance. Wise women may be better equipped to help women overcome issues that are unique to them, that may not be addressed by mainstream medicine or by organised male-dominated religions. I think a "wise woman" puppet would be the perfect companion for me during the beginning of my degree, to help me stay in touch with my true intentions as an artist despite beginning to turn my practice into a "career".

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At first, the most obvious choice for an archetype for my "Wise Woman" character seemed to be the "Magician" archetype, due to the Wise Woman's healing powers and occult/spiritual knowledge. However, after doing more research about the Jungian archetypes (see my research in the "Research: Reading section), I realised that the Jungian Magician is perhaps more of a masculine archetype.
The wise woman is not necessarily "powerful", and certainly not omniscient or omnipotent. She is not a god or a powerful domineering being, but instead, an outcast from society, an opponent to powerful forces such as the government or the church. She lives in the shadows, on the edges, in the sidelines, in the woods, waiting for women in need of her help to come to her. She is magical, but not necessarily powerful.
Because of this, I thought that the "Outlaw" archetype would be better suited to my character. The wise woman is an outlaw because she might help women with their needs in ways that the state or the church cannot help them. This may include doing things that are illegal in some places, such as giving women abortions, or even harming men in their lives who are hurting them (yes, she is morally ambiguous). She is an outcast from society, completely shunned and demonised, but this does not bother her - she lives in her own way and waits for women to come to her, prepared to help if she is needed.

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Zenne is one of the characters depicted most often in Turkish Karagöz-Hacivat shadow puppetry. This piece was made using dried leather which was then traced using a nevregan (a special knife) and painted using plant roots and Indian ink. If I were to make a shadow puppet, I would mirror the techniques regarding the knife carvings and the use of ink - however, I would use another medium (e.g. translucent fabric) instead of leather due to my vegan lifestyle. This depiction of Zenne appealed to me in particular because of the warm, earthy colour scheme (similar to the earth tones I have been using in my own work). The specific artist of this piece is unknown, but it is currently in the Victoria and Albert museum alongside 9 other Turkish shadow puppets which were probably stolen from the Ottoman Empire.

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"The Magic and Splendor of Karagöz – Turkish Shadow Puppets" - Daily Art Magazine

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"The Magic and Splendor of Karagöz – Turkish Shadow Puppets" - Daily Art Magazine

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Karagöz and Hacivat puppets have been present throughout my childhood, but reading this article is my first time studying them academically or attempting to incorporate them into my work. Turkish shadow puppets are used for performances in theatres, coffeehouses, parks and gardens throughout Turkey, especially during special occasions such as Ramadan. These performances were originally not intended for children as they contained dark humour and sexual dialogue, but evolved to be aimed more towards children. In these plays, everyone was accepted despite their race, religious beliefs or class. Supernatural characters such as witches, djinns and monsters also joined. The puppets are made by hand, using dried translucent leather which is cut using a social knife called a nevregan. Each artist has their own colour recipe with which to dye the leather, and this often includes natural pigments from plants and Indian ink. The pieces of leather are embroidered and tied together using a sturdy thread made of animal gut. A control rod is inserted into the upper body, allowing the puppets to move. Often, puppet-masters stick to depicting the original characters: Karagöz (common, ordinary man), Hacivat (poetic, upper-class man), Zenne (main female character), Tiryaki (opium addict), Beberuhi (a dwarf), Laz (boatman), Tuzsuz Deli Bekir (a drunkard), Çelebi (an Istanbul gentleman) and Çengi (dancer).

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Astrid Polman is a Dutch artist and guest lecturer at the DIY Textile School in Amsterdam. They consider themselves to be a textiles artist, and their work primarily consists of drawings, embroideries, felt sculptures, ecoprint, and collages using plants. One of my favourite works of theirs (shown above) is part of their "Botanica Humanica" series, and was made using ecoprint onto fabric, embroidery with red thread and real dandelions. Themes in their work are growth and life cycles, and their intention is to centre human emotions, and the connections of humans to nature. In the "Botanica Humanica" series, they recurrently show humans with plants inside their bodies, illustrating the human-nature bond, and, with the "skin" being translucent, they show what "lives inside" humans, making vulnerability and strength visible. Polman's work is inspiring to me not only in the concepts but also in terms of the mediums used. I have considered trying ecoprints in my "Hunter Gatherer" project, but may also incorporate the use of plants and textiles into my work by using interfacing fabrics. Polman will definitely be one of the artists whom I refer to most during this project.

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"‘Something In Me Sparked’: the Iranian Women Using Art to Protest" - Fuchsia Hart

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"‘Something In Me Sparked’: the Iranian Women Using Art to Protest" - Fuchsia Hart

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This article is very relevant to my project, as it explores current art being used as part of a women’s rights political movement in a country neighbouring my own. As of the 16th of September, there have been a wave of protests across Iran protesting the “morality police” who killed 16-year-old Mahsa Amini. Though the West has interpreted this as being protests against the Hijab, they are actually protests calling for women’s rights and the end of the regime as a whole. The Iranian government blocked the use of social media as a response to the protests, but the Iranian diaspora have continued to speak up online, with artists at the forefront of the movement. Common themes in the artwork are Iran being depicted as a woman, symbolising the empowerment of Iranian women, and slogans depicted in Farsi or traditional Persian calligraphy. The main slogan of the movement, “zan, zendegi, azadi”, is often featured in the artwork. The Kurdish community has also been active in these protests, as Mahsa Amini was Kurdish and her murder was also part of systemic racism against Kurds across the Middle East. New York based Iranian artist Sahar Ghorsi urges artists to keep going even if it was draining, because the artwork has expressed to the world what the news alone cannot. This movement has given me such strength and willpower to make feminist and anti-racist artwork that is bold, filled with evocative imagery and words, and communicative to a wide audience.

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Having developed ideas for my character, I began to think about how I could convey my concept and my ideas through the type of puppet my character would be and the materials I chose to use. In my lecture, I learned about different types of puppets - finger puppets, hand puppets, articulated puppets, lifesize puppets, and shadow puppets. The idea of shadow puppets appealed to me initially, as I have a connection with them due to my cultural heritage (I loved Turkish shadow puppets during my childhood). I want my puppet to be big, to have a life-like presence, and to move in a slightly eery, off-putting, and yet magical way, highlighting my character's moral ambiguity. I don't want her to have clothes, but perhaps accessories such as leaves across her body, symbolising her connection to nature. I want to use a neutral colour palette, symbolising her almost primitive state, and to be made of natural materials such as card, paper, felt, wood, hemp and twine.

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What character archetype could your maquette be assigned and why?
My maquette would be assigned the archetype of the Outlaw, because of her inclination to help those who are marginalised in society even when that involves disobeying the laws that oppress them. The Outlaw describes her better than the Magician archetype, because she is not omniscient or omnipotent, but instead leads a small but magical life in the woods, and is there to help those who are in need of her healing powers.

How have you utilised the prompts into your maquette?
Despite having done the preparatory tasks involving the prompts (e.g. finding images and items corresponding to the prompts), I struggled to involve these in my actual outcome. I think I could have been better at tying the prompts to my maquette by finding direct links between each prompt and the artwork I wanted to create.

What ideas have you generated from making your maquette?
I have generated ideas for the ways in which I want to create and present my outcome. I want my outcome to be accompanied by music that is somewhat ethereal, but also spiritual and unsettling. I want to involve leaves and pieces of natural fibres in my outcome, and may research different textiles methods that I could explore that involve the use of plants.

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I got many kind responses to my maquette from my peers, which made me happy that I had stepped out of my comfort zone by creating something big rather than my usual miniature work. I also had two comments saying that my maquette was "creepy" or "eery", which I took as positive feedback, since my intention was for her to look beautiful and magical from one angle, but creepy and mysterious from the other. I think that Kamerfer would be seen as creepy and unapproachable by many in society, due to her nature as an Outlaw and a morally ambiguous witch; to reflect this, I want my depictions of her to continue to feel slightly off-putting.

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What Is Illustration? - Hayfaa Al-Chalabi 

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What Is Illustration? - Hayfaa Al-Chalabi 

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I found this lecture extremely inspiring due to it's focus on ways in which Middle-Eastern artists used illustration as a form of activism during the Arab Springs. The lecturer discussed the importance of illustration during the Egyptian political movement, during a time when the government was suppressing speech so much that artists said through their illustrations what writers and speakers could not. I really resonated with what she said about how the homophobic laws in the Middle-East are remnants of British colonialism, but this is often disregarded by white queer people who view the Middle East as an intrinsically homophobic place. As a Turkish woman, the discussion of Middle-Eastern politics at UAL was really empowering to me, and it made me want to explore Gezi Park (the Turkish version of the Arab Springs) in my own work at some point. I also resonated with the lecturer's comment that all art is political, even apolitical art. I agree with this completely; my puppet project is not only about a magical woman who lives in the woods and brews potions, but is about an activist who's medium is spells. Through this project, I am trying to make a commentary on women's bodily autonomy, and highlighting the importance of female-led magical rituals and women's healing spaces.

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In preparation for the Maquette-Making Workshop, I gathered a range of materials that I thought would come in use for the creation of my maquette. I chose to go with brown and neutral colours, perhaps in order to tie Kamerfer's appearance together with her character as an enchantress of nature, a witch who uses natural tools and materials in her practice. Using recycled materials (e.g. cardboard left over from packaging and scraps of sacks left over from clothes I made) felt right for this project as it tied together with the eco-feminist ideologies I wanted to align myself with.

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I created Kamerfer by cutting her limbs out of cardboard and attaching them to one another with twine - this took me about an hour and a half. I used my remaining two hours to collage pieces of cotton, felt and scraps of sack onto her body - mostly abstract, apart from her shoes. I also created breasts using foam and pearls for the nipples, and a belly using foam and wire for the belly button. Because I had to work very fast (and also wasn't used to working at a large scale), the process was very intuitive, and I hadn't spent much time thinking about how I would actually construct her body. However, I was very happy with the outcome, and the fact that it wasn't overworked or overly planned made it feel more authentic and natural.

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I sculpted Kamerfer's face using foam, cotton and felt, and created a septum ring using wire. When a tutor pointed out that her paper hair felt a bit too isolated and separated from the rest of her body, I had the idea of using leftover tiny scraps of foam, twine and sack that had gathered on the floor to create texture in her hair, hence utilising materials that would have otherwise been thrown away.

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Kamerfer's limbs being detached from one another means that all parts of her body can move. When I create my final outcome, I may model it off of Kamerfer, and perhaps attach sticks to some of her limbs so that I can move her body parts without holding them (as her puppeteer).

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Making Kamerfer's hands as stars was at first because I thought it would be too fiddly to try to cut accurate hands out of thick cardboard - however, I later realised that it was coincidentally aligned with my illustration, where stars were flying out of her hands, symbolising her magical powers. I attached strings of twine to her hands, which moved and flowed freely, symbolising the strings of energy created by her spells and potions being released into the universe.

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Lilith Births The Djinn - Rithika Merchant

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Rithika Merchant is a visual artist from Mumbai, India. Through her work, she explores commonalities that run through different cultures, religions, mythologies and stories from all around the world. She uses symbolism from different religions and stories that she studies, as well as incorporating her own visual vocabulary into her work. This concept in Merchant's work resonated with me a lot, because I too am interested in using multicultural religious and spiritual symbolism in my work. Nature is an important part of Merchant's work, hence the use of non-saturated Earthy colours (another tie between Merchant's work and my own). She uses a combination of watercolour and cut paper, working on card or paper. Her piece shown above, "Lilith Births The Djinn", is composed of gouache and ink, and includes the moon as a central focus of the piece, as Merchant was interested in exploring the significance of the moon as a natural body that has had mythological, religious and cultural significance globally. This piece is also an exploration of cycles of life and death, with the human form being wrapped in veins and plants in the presence of the moon.

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In the Black Fantastic - The Hayward Gallery 

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In the Black Fantastic - The Hayward Gallery 

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"In the Black Fantastic" was an exhibition of works by artists of the African diaspora who used fantasy, myth and storytelling to address racism and injustice. Afrofuturism, the prominent genre of the exhibition, is (as defined by Tate) a"cultural aesthetic that combines science-fiction, history and fantasy to explore the African-American experience and aims to connect those from the black diaspora with their forgotten African ancestry". I found this exhibition extremely interesting in that it used storytelling and fantastical artwork to tell stories of oppression and generate hope.
In terms of the use of materials, I was particularly inspired by the work of British-Liberian artist Lana Iris Viktor. The combination of materials such as pure gold, acrylic paint, poly resin, prints and fabric made the work feel textured and multi-dimensional. The posture of the women in her works is strong and empowering, with the bold, bright colours and golden embellishments adding to this image. Taking inspiration from Viktor's paintings, I want my work in this project to use a combination of a range of mediums as a collage (e.g. combining interfacing fabric, fabric scraps and paper). As Viktor does, I also want to focus on depicting all of the women in my artwork in an empowered stance.

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Penny's World - The Institute of Contemporary Arts 

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Penny's World - The Institute of Contemporary Arts 

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"Penny's World" was an exhibition of the past 30 years of work by the London-based poet and artist Penny Goring. The exhibition included paintings, drawings, collages, videos, sculptures and dolls, many of which combined the artist's visual and literary art. I found this multi-disciplinary approach to be very inspiring, as storytelling/writing has become an important part of my current project as well. Goring shamelessly uses her art to process her trauma, meaning that her art is extremely personal, raw, and sometimes vulgar. This was an important exhibition for me to see, because it reminded me of how intensely personal my art is to me too, and of the fact that not everything that I make needs to be refined, as overworking artworks can take away from their purity and rawness.

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We were also given a brief to create an observational drawing a day for about 40 days. I decided that I would respond to this brief by drawing trees, as I think that observing trees on a daily basis will help me get into my character. I also created a handmade sketchbook using Japanese bookbinding, as I find it easier to work in notebooks that I have made myself.

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Lubaina Himid's retrospective exhibition at the Tate Modern includes a collection of her most influential works, mostly addressing topics such as slavery and racism, and telling stories about Zanzibar, where her father was from. My favourite piece from the exhibition (and the most relevant to the "Hunter Gatherer" project) was her 3D piece titled "We Will Be". This piece includes a photomontage of black men who may be symbolic of political and cultural liberation such as Nelson Mandela and Bob Marley. The piece combines at least five mediums: photography, embroidery, painting, drawing and collage, creating an almost graffiti-like aesthetic. Himid describes her cut-outs as paintings that are more animate - I loved this idea, as I also noticed that my recent 3D works and puppets feel a lot more alive than my usual 2D works.

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Pele - Hawaiian Goddess of Volcanoes and Lava

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Feminine Power: The Divine and the Demonic - The British Museum

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Feminine Power: The Divine and the Demonic - The British Museum

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The "Feminine Power" exhibition at the British Museum showed a vast range of goddesses and female deities from several different religions and cultures from all over the world. This was extremely interesting for me as the study of goddesses and the divine feminine has been an important part of my spiritual and artistic practice for a long time, and this exhibition exposed me to the range of powers that have historically been attributed to femininity, and how feminine power can be defined. However, I am also extremely critical of the British Museum, because most works exhibited there have been stolen during British colonisation (including from countries that I am from).
One of my favourite artworks in this exhibition was the wooden sculpture of Pele, the Hawaiian goddess of volcanoes and lava, also known as "Eater of the Land". She is known to have bright red hair and a flaming temper, and to manifest herself in lava. This is a metaphor for rebirth and regeneration, because in destroying everything it touches, lava also creates new life as areas regenerate after having been burned down. I found this metaphor extremely beautiful and empowering, and I felt that the character of Pele somehow tied back to my character of Kamerfer. I would also very much like to experiment with making sculptures out of wood at some point in the near future.

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In preparation for our first studio day of Maquette-Making, I created an illustration of what I wanted my character to look like, including the kind of imagery I wanted to include, and also the feelings I wanted to evoke in the viewers. I also chose a name for her: "Kamerfer", which means "radiance of the crescent" in Ottoman Turkish (kamer means "half-moon" or "crescent", and fer means "radiance" or "brightness".) I chose to give her a Turkish name so that I could feel connected to her on a cultural level, and also to give myself the opportunity to refer to Ottoman magic later on in this project.

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Kamerfer was born in a village by the woodlands of the Eastern Mediterranean in the distant past.  She felt drawn to trees, to herbs, to the Earth and to the Fire from when she was a young child. She gathered herbs in bottles and jars, brewed them in oils, and snuck out into the woods to sleep under the moonlight on the full moon each month. She befriended Feray, a goat who lived in the woods behind her house.
At the age of 19, Kamerfer fell in love with a girl in her village, Rüya. Rüya was married to Ahmet, but Kamerfer knew that she loved Rüya more deeply than Ahmet ever could. She buried roses and lavender beneath the olive tree in the forest, in attempt to cast a love spell upon the girl.
Kamerfer's spell worked. On the night of the November moon, Kamerfer waited beside the olive tree where she had cast the earth-spell. She waited for hours and hours for Rüya to appear before her. And Rüya arrived, in a trance, as if having been spun in a golden web of sudden love. She told Kamerfer she wanted to be together, to run away into the woods.
But, Kamerfer soon discovered, Rüya was pregnant. She didn't want Ahmet's baby - she begged Kamerfer to help her abort the baby (which was unlawful and considered a sin). Kamerfer promised to help her, and made Rüya swear not to tell anyone, in order for their secret not to be shared with the village - witchcraft was also unlawful and considered a sin and they could be terribly punished. Rüya promised.
For Rüya, Kamerfer brewed a potion of mugwart, parsley, pennyroyal and black cohosh. She gave the potion to Rüya the next day, hidden behind the village mosque. They shared a kiss, and promised each other to meet beneath the olive tree after dusk and to begin their journey away from the village and into the woods.
However, their interaction was witnessed by Ahmet, who had just left the mosque after his evening prayer. Furious, he asked Rüya why she was meeting with the village witch, who was thought by the whole town to be a sinful outlaw.
In tears, Rüya confessed everything to her husband, including the fact that she had already consumed the abortion spell. Ahmet became extremely violent and killed Rüya using an axe - this was not unlawful. In pursuit of revenge upon the woman who had stolen his wife away from him, Ahmet told everything to the mayor of the village.
Kamerfer, who was informed about the devastating news by Feray (who had witnessed the events from the top of a mountain), knew that she had to leave. Feray promised to help her and to be her companion forever, and they were soul sisters despite being of different species. Kamerfer road Feray up the mountains, escaping into the distant woods. Without ceasing her movement, she cried and cried, mourning over the loss of her lover.
Kamerfer could never go back to her village, or anywhere where there were other people. She knew that she would have to lead the rest of her life in solitude, or she would be imprisoned. Rüya lived only in the moon now, only in Kamerfer's dreams. Kamerfer could hear the voice of her lover in the trees, in the wind, in her own breath.
Kamerfer grew rough and strong through her grief. Over the course of several months, she built a treehouse on top of an ancient olive tree deep into the woods for her and Feray to live in. Feray regularly went back to the village to bring the news back to Kamerfer. They were looking for her everywhere, and they wouldn't let her live, she told her. There were rumours about where she had gone, many thought she had killed herself in mourning of her lover.
The first spell Kamerfer cast in her new life was an invisibility spell. This did not make her literally invisible, but made her less noticeable to onlookers. The rare villager who passed through the woods wouldn't notice her; even if they walked past the olive tree, they wouldn't feel inclined to look up at Kamerfer's treehouse. Thus, she was able to exist in peace, in harmony with nature and away from the world.
Kamerfer was very self sufficient. She planted potatoes and carrots and onions and made magical stews in her cauldron. Feray went back and forth to the village and brought Kamerfer the spices she missed. Together, they explored the woods and foraged for wild mushrooms. Years went by; Kamerfer never stopped thinking about Rüya. Every month during the waning moon, she performed a ritual for Rüya's spirit, and spoke to her lover through the stars.
One day, Feray told Kamerfer that there was a group of local women in the village who had taken her side after finding out about the happenings. They didn't view her queerness or her occultist tendencies as sinful, but were fascinated by it. One of them wanted an abortion, Feray told Kamerfer. Feray asked Kamerfer if she could make a potion for the woman, and Kamerfer agreed.
Kamerfer became a wise woman, available to help other women who were in need. She helped women in ways that would have been considered unlawful, with their needs and desires that would have been considered sinful. Feray would tell the women to find the oldest olive tree in the forest and wait beneath it on the night of the full moon. Kamerfer would arrive before them, ready to listen, ready to perform her magic.
Kamerfer gave a young woman a magical blends of dried flowers which they could drink as tea if they were struggling with menstrual pains. She gave an older woman a different blend to help her through her menopausal symptoms. She gave three women the same abortion potion she had given Rüya years ago. She gave two women an invisibility potion, so that they could do as they pleased without their husbands tracking their actions and being controlling. She even gave one woman a pouch of poisonous mushrooms so that she could kill her abusive husband.
None of these women betrayed Kamerfer; the secret of her survival was never shared. She existed for women only, and no male villagers ever knew of her whereabouts. Women would come to her every month on the full moon, and she would help them with their various needs. In exchange, they brought her handmade clothes, books, homemade soups, spice blends and freshly baked bread.
Kamerfer lived her life as a wise woman in the forest. She dedicated her practice as a witch to Rüya, who she never stopped loving.

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After a group discussion of my work during the "Ideas Generation" project workshops, my classmate pointed out that I had spent a lot of time developing Kamerfer's backstory, but could perhaps have spent more time experimenting with materials and colours for my outcome. This was a constructive comment, and made me think about experimenting with some textiles methods in the coming days.

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During out second project workshop, we collaborated as a group to brainstorm ideas surrounding the "Outlaw" archetype. There were a range of responses to this, many of which were interpretations of the outlaw archetype as a criminal or villain of sorts. I didn't resonate with this as much, because my interpretation of an "Outlaw" in this project is a character who disobeys the law with good intention, focusing on the idea that the law doesn't always correspond with morality.
The following are my notes from our "Outlaw" brainstorm including ideas for how I might link these "Outlaw" characteristics to my character, Kamerfer.

Living outside of society or away from other people - This very much links to my character, because she lives completely alone in the woods, having been exiled from her village

Having no friends or family - This links to Kamerfer because she was abandoned by her family due to her "outlaw" tendencies

Being in exile or hiding - Kamerfer is in exile, living alone and having cast an invisibility spell upon herself - she is hiding from the government, because she would be captured and persecuted for being a witch if she revealed her whereabouts

Striving for a pure, heroic existence - Kamerfer is a hero, perhaps an "antihero" for some. She has her own concept of what it means to be heroic and what it means to be "good", separate from societal norms and from the law

Knowing how to fend for oneself - Kamefer is self-sufficient; she knows how to survive without connection to institutions or social structures

Revenge politics - Kamerfer believes in revenge, particularly when it comes to inducing harm upon men who have harmed women

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Abstract Drawings Based on "Outlaw" Characteristics

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Abstract Drawings Based on "Outlaw" Characteristics

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As a task during this workshop, we were asked to create abstract drawings based on "outlaw" traits that we resonated with. This was a quick exercise and I wasn't too happy with the result, but it did help me "loosen up" with my drawing, and I used it as a warm-up of sorts.

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Representational Drawings Based on "Outlaw" Characteristics

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Representational Drawings Based on "Outlaw" Characteristics

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I also created some less abstract drawings based on the "Outlaw" traits, which were an opportunity to do some fast-paced drawings that had more of a tie to the kinds of imagery I might want to include in my final outcome (e.g. hands holding the Earth, trees, and magical swords).

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During the project workshop, we were encouraged to create quick drawings with the "Outlaw" theme in mind. My "non-humanoid" character was somewhat of an abstracted version of Kamerfer, with the leaves symbolising her herbal magical powers, and the wings symbolising her ethereal nature. I also drew a version of her as a "normal" human, and a quick sketch of the way I represented her as a maquette. Drawing a goat again gave me the idea of creating a side-character of a goat as Kamerfer's "familiar". The goat feels important because it ties Kamerfer to my culture/region of the world (Eastern Mediterranean), and the goat is also a symbol of spirituality and magic.

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I created a much quicker and less refined version of a tree, which helped me "free up" in my drawing. We were also asked to create work based on a prompt given to us by a classmate (hence the "Rainbow, crab, big toes" drawing).

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Sahar Ghorishi is a multi-disciplinary Iranian artist based in London. She primarily uses digital art and film to tell stories of the Iranian diaspora - in her own words, "turning stories and memories into art". She is also the founder and creative director of "Journey of Dawn", "platform which amplifies the lost beauties and memories of everyday MENA life". This platform has been very inspiring to me as a woman of MENA diaspora myself. Her piece that I displayed above, "Zan, Zendegi, Azadi", was created in response to the 2022 women's rights movement in Iran, and is a tribute to Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian-Kurdish woman who was killed on 16 September 2022 by the morality police. Artists were quick to respond to and participate in the movement by creating solidarity art. I find this incredibly empowering, and it has driven me to create solidarity art as well, and to consider creating political art relating to women's political struggles in Turkey.

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What was my favourite character design from today and why?
I wasn't very happy with any of my character designs from today, because I felt that they were all too rushed (though this makes sense since we were only given 5 minutes to complete each of them). My favourite character design that I have made in the past week was actually my illustration of Kamerfer with flowers in her body, which I completed in my own time. I think that this image is the best representation of how I would envision my puppet to look in human form.

What role will my character have in the next phase of my life?
My character, Kamerfer, will have the role of being an "empowering guide" in the next phase in my life. She will act as a reminder not to stop incorporating my politics and my raw experience of the world into my art. She symbolises being an independent thinker, and knowing that the law doesn't always correspond to morality - I'm allowed to have my own definition of what is right.

How has my research contributed to my practice this week?
Reading about the current feminist movement in Iran has given me an awareness of current world politics that I think it is important to have as an illustrator. Otherwise, one's practice as an artist might exist only in a "bubble" and not in the actual world. Studying the work of artists, particularly female artists of different diasporas, has inspired me both visually and intellectually, and has given me the stimulation I needed to continue working on my project.

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Silvina Der Meguerditchian is an Armenian-Argentinian visual artist living in Berlin. Her work is focused on exploring national and ethnic identity as a person who lives "in between", and the role of minorities in society. This resonated with me a lot because I am part of two ethnic minorities, and often find myself existing "in between" different cultures, ethnicities and nationalities. The the untitled works above attracted my attention due to the imagery, as I am working with plants and using earth-toned colours for the Hunter-Gatherer project. I like the idea of using a combination of painted, printed, and collaged real plants, and also the idea of using tracing paper and cut-outs/negative space to create collages.

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During the first "Drawing Lab" session (05/10/22), we were introduced to what drawing labs are and when they will take place. I learned that the focus of these sessions is to challenge our understandings of the discipline and to expand the ways in which we think about and practice drawing. Drawing lab is extracurricular, meaning it will not be assessed - I like this, because it means it is a space where I can create work without thinking about how it fits into a mark scheme. At the same time, I think that these sessions, in which I will explore the relationship between reflection and practice, will help me enhance my practice in such a way that will improve the quality of my assessed work.

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"Fragmenta Botanica" - Exploring Plants through Illustration

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"Fragmenta Botanica" - Exploring Plants through Illustration

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The theme of the first Drawing Lab was exploring the use of illustration in studying plants scientifically in the past, before microscopes and cameras existed. The lecturer brought our attention to the fact that illustration can and has been used as a scientific tool, with the scientific drawings of plants being detailed and yet comprehensive to look at. These drawings weren't expressive, and were focused on visually describing the plant rather than being artistic. We were encouraged to use drawing as a form of investigation, focusing on the outlines and the shapes of the leaves.

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Herbarum Vivae Eicones - Hans Weiditz the Younger (1530)

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Though these botanical artworks aren't particularly interesting conceptually, I find them visually interesting and actually very relevant to my project. My character is a Wise Woman who works with plants in her witchcraft practice, and my daily drawings are all of trees - so studying plants accurately will benefit my project greatly. The lecturer explained to us that the artist of the illustration shown above had the aim of indexing every plant species known to human in the 1500s. I find this incredibly interesting, especially considering how important drawing must have been as a scientific investigative tool at the time.

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The first task of this drawing lab was to find a weed or plant in our home/the garden and to draw it accurately. we were told to do an investigative depiction, giving the viewers the information needed, rather than thinking too much about materials or colour. I think I could have completed this task to a better standard by being more true to the brief, because I went into too much detail at points (e.g. the shading in the stems) and I think this might have overworked the piece. I'm happy with the way the overall form turned out because I think this was accurate, but I think I could have depicted the roots more accurately.

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The second task was to depict a zoomed-in leaf. I think I could have done better with this by using another medium, because the pen-lines were too sharp and I struggled to create a realistic depiction of the leaf using pen only.

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"Dragon of Tannin Island and Horned Rabbit" - Example of Successful Character design

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I chose to study the above depiction of Al-Mi'raj as of three examples of successful character designs. Al-Mi'raj is a character of medieval Arabic literature who is a horned rabbit. They often appear in myths when Iskander has defeated a dragon, and he is given an Al-Mi'raj as a gift.  Above is an illustration from Ottoman illustration featuring both the dragon and the Al-Mi'raj. I think that this is an example of successful character design because the bright yellow colour of the Al-Mi'raj reflects the fact that the creature is given as a gift and therefore highly praised. Also, the composition of the piece, with the dragon going in the opposite direction from the Al-Mi'Raj, implies that the dragon may be running away, because it was thought that the Al-Miraj causes all animals that set their sight on them to flee; the Al-miraj is therefore portrayed as powerful despite it's small size.

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"Djin" - Kitab al-Bulhan - Example of Successful Character Design

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Djinns existed in pre-Islamic Egypt, Syria, Persia and Turkey, but are also mentioned in the Qur'ān. In folklore of these regions, djinns are said to be able to assume any animal or inanimate form (e.g. stones, ruins, trees, air). They can be good or evil, and possess the same bodily needs as humans. They are capable of having extraordinary powers, and I think this piece displays that well, because the other characters are shown bowing down to the Djinn or looking at them - they are the centre of attention, perhaps offering to grant a wish to them.

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Storytelling, Narrative and the Folk Process

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Storytelling, Narrative and the Folk Process

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Below are my notes from Geoff Coupland's lecture on 03/10/22 about storytelling.

A story is "what" is being depicted. Some stories are forgotten, but others are changing and being repeated and reinvented.

A plot is "how" it is being depicted. Often, the same plots can be recycled and repeated.

The Folk Process is the process by which stories, dances and songs change or die out over time. The three factors of folksong survival are as follows:

Community -  links the present to the past. This is only possible if a community maintains an identity.

Variation - variations keep them new and help them survive

Selection - being chosen by a community

The role assumed by an illustrator requires us to engage with multiple narrative components

Seven basic plots:

overcoming the monster: protagonist/hero has to defeat an enemy/threat

rags to riches: hero gains riches, power, or a mate, loses it and then gets it back

the quest: hero goes out to gets something and faces challenges

voyage and return: hero goes out into world, faces challenges, learns, and returns

comedy: funny things happen, they overcome challenges, and it ends well

tragedy: character faces tragedy, we feel sorry for them, it ends badly

rebirth: something happens to make the hero change their ways

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"Jinjenju" - Toriyama Sekien - Example of Successful Character Design 

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The Jinmenju is a tree from Japanese mythology with faces blooming in the flowers. The above depiction of the tree is accompanied by the text, "In mountain valleys, its flowers just like human heads, without a word, they merely just smile away, smile away until its petals fall just like that". I think that this text has a somewhat soothing aspect to it, as well as an ominous, strange aspect to it. The colour white works well with the strange, uncertain feeling evoked by this text, and the simplistic composition (e.g. with there being little else in the image other than the tree) adds to the sense of unease as it feels as though there is nothing else in close proximity. In Japanese mythology, it is said that if one were to ask the tree a question, they wouldn't understand the human language and would laugh - bu tif they laughed too much, they would wither and fall.

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Below are my notes from an introductory lecture about critical thinking on 03/10/22.

Think about how my experiences and my privileges will affect the way in which I discern meaning from images that I look at

A visual technology can be any form of apparatus designed either to be looked at or to enhance natural vision - mediation - how something moves from one place to another

Site of the image - the range of economic, social and political relations, institutions and practices that surround an image and through which it is seen and used

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Drawing Outlines of the People Passing By

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Drawing Outlines of the People Passing By

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I wasn't happy with the outcomes of this drawing, which made me think I may take some life drawing classes this term in order to improve my observational drawing skills.

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People Passing By and Textures Around Me

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People Passing By and Textures Around Me

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I wasn't happy with these outcomes either; I think they may have been more successful if I had swapped the mediums. It would have been easier to capture the movement of the people using a softer medium such as pencil, and it would have been easier to reflect the textures and patterns using a sharper medium such as pen.

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Illustrating the sounds of the leaves made me think about the sounds I associated with Kamerfer. I liked the idea of leaves as being her soundtrack - I may weave her a shawl out of leaves inspired by this sound I discovered during the orientation task.

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I think this was my most successful outcome from the orientation task. I chose an aesthetic of clothes for Kamerfer that was witchy, ethereal, floaty and somewhere between feminine and androgynous, with an earthy colour scheme.

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Which of the orientation tasks evoked the most interesting ideas?
The task of finding clothes in a charity shop and designing Kamerfer's clothes was the most interesting task for me, because it made me begin to think about how she presents her exterior, how she exists in the outside world, and how is she perceived. The clothes also made me think about the geographical and social position in which my character exists, and overall deepened the way in which I thought about her.

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For my first experiment with interfacing fabric, I chose to start simple, and combine the fabric with a sheet of cotton. I did this by simply pressing the fabrics together using a hot iron.

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For the second iteration of my interfacing fabric experiment, I chose to test whether I could add paper in between the sheets of fabric. Discovering that I could, I began to think about ways in which I could draw on paper and then iron it into the fabric, combining the mediums of textiles and drawing.

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Felt Stars and Sack Scraps in Interfacing Fabric

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Felt Stars and Sack Scraps in Interfacing Fabric

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I thought that I could further refine my work by using two sheets of interfacing fabric - this made the fabric stick together more strongly, as the glue on both sides of the fabric bound together. I may use this method when I eventually make my interfacing fabric puppet, as it will mean that the binding is stronger.

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Interfacing Fabric, Cotton, Sack, Paper, Felt, and Dried Leaves

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Outcome: Interfacing Fabric With Pressed Leaves and Fabric Scraps

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Outcome: Interfacing Fabric With Pressed Leaves and Fabric Scraps

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For my final outcome on my day of experimentation, I created an A4 piece collaging together a range of materials that I had gathered. I was very happy with my outcome, and will probably use this method for my final outcome puppet - I could refine it more by placing the leaves in correspondence with certain organs and body parts (e.g. the lungs could be leaves).

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This photo was taken from the other side of the window against which I balanced the fabric, with the light facing towards the fabric. It made me realise that the fabrics look better with the sun behind them, and this made me begin to think about the idea of creating shadow puppets that dance in the sun, with the sunlight behind them allowing the leaves to shine through.

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As an extension after the manifesto project workshop, I created my own manifesto zine, elaborating upon the ideas and philosophies I had established in the first draft. I hand-stitched my zine using saddle-stitch bookbinding, with the pages being a combination of brown craft paper, gold mesh fabric, and lino-printed fabric from last week's printmaking workshop. I then collaged the pages with dried plants, felt, gold mesh, and sack fabric. I added subtle drawings using brown pen, and painted onto it with coffee and watered down black ink. I wrote my manifesto into these pages using pencil - see scans of each page below.

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Which of the techniques I tried today appealed to me the most?
The lino technique appealed to me the most, particularly when using a circle as the canvas, because this allowed for me to have a circular structure, and the symmetrical composition was easier to plan. The roundness of the tree of life and spiral that I created fit into the feminine theme of my project.

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Stamp printing can involve the use of foam, lino or rubber. It can involve the use of negative space, texture and collage. Stamps can be used to create repetitive patterns on fabric, paper or card. During a print workshop I partook in on 10/10/22, I experimented with lino printing and rubber stamp printing, creating stamps relating thematically to the "Wise Woman" theme I am exploring during Unit 1.

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During the stamp technical workshop, I created a tree of life cut-out, a spiral cut-out, and stars (on a rubber stamp). I used a scalpel for the lino, and a carving knife for the rubber stamp. I made several errors whilst creating the negative space behind the tree (e.g. cutting through the branch on the left accidentally), but realised that these mistakes aren't too noticeable in the overall composition.

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These prints didn't turn out as good as I had hoped, because I wasn't able to use the lino press to print the design onto the fabric, and with my hands alone, I wasn't able to distribute the ink evenly. However, I am still happy with my design, and may incorporate the spirals into my outcome. Spirals are also symbolically important to my project, because they represent spiritual journeys and cycles in the woman's body.

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Putting the two trees side-by-side instantly made the image become a pattern. I may use this design to create a dress or outfit to accompany my character (Kamerfer).

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The tree symbolises life and death, evolution, the link between the earth (roots reaching underground) and the spiritual realm (branches shooting upwards). This is symbolic of my character's magical abilities and unique connection to the Earth.

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This was my first time printing on to fabric using lino. I loved this combination of methods, but found that I had to use more pressure than I would have to have done with paper. These printed fabric scraps will come in handy with my outcome, since it will be a textiles outcome and I can incorporate them into my design by stitching them in.

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I found that this design worked well as a repetitive pattern. I was concerned about the unevenness of the spirals, but I actually found that I liked how this made the prints feel handmade and earthy, as though they were casting a spell.

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I liked the way this print turned out, and I was able to create more accurate sharp lines using the craft knife and rubber than I had been with the lino and scalpel. The symbol of stars will also be a part of my outcome, because stars are symbolic of hope, destiny, fortune telling and the spiritual realm.

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On 11/10/22, I participated in a technical workshop where we were taught Photoshop Basics. This was my first time learning how to use Photoshop.

DPI means dots per inch, and PPI means pixels per inch

at 300ppi, our eyes cannot see the pixels - this is good enough for a regular print

resampling is when Photoshop sharpens an image by adding pixels, estimating what colours should be where - this can upscale images but is quite limited

RGB is the computer's system for capturing and displaying colour images electronically - this is the best way to work. CMYK is the colour space used for commercial printing - but each printer has it's own version so it is best to send printers an RGB image

.tiff images can be higher quality - they preserve transparency and layers

.psb images are good for huge images larger than 2gb

.psd files are for working on photoshop projects (smaller)

.jpgs are ok for smaller images or tests

.png files retain transparency (no background)

use a big scanner to capture the textures and layers of images

photomerge - connect images and edit them together

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On 11/10/22, I attended Charlotte Ayer's talk about her career as an illustrator. Below are my notes.

a degree can leave a person feeling quite chaotic - having experimented with a lot of things but not having grounded oneself into a practice. a masters can be good for specialising/narrowing down.

Royal Drawing School - went from experimenting and exploring to having to think about colour theory, do life drawing, focus on technique, learn art history

types of work she did:

editorial - magazines/journals/articles

book covers

going to actual places and painting (e.g. walls or murals)

drawing on location as a way of recording things - no expectations or plan. draw things not as they are but "how they feel"

an editorial can involve thinking about what you can bring to an image as an illustrator and how you can weave a story through images

focus on different things - e.g. sometimes focus on line, sometimes focus on colour

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From Berger's essay Drawing on Paper. Each mode presents different challenges.

1. Observed: The specific process of looking, where lines and marks reflect what the artist sees, and the focus is on understanding the subject visually.

2. Imagined: Capturing the mind's eye to bring together and arrange components of a scene. This mode of drawing reflects the artist's ability to dream and construct using the imagination.

3. Remembered: Drawing from memory, capturing the artist's previous experiences based on recollections.

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For the first task, I drew a coral reef from observation, choosing to focus  on depicting the forms and shadows accurately rather than adding too many details. I struggled with this, because I find that I tend to add my own imagined extensions to "observational" drawings and am not good at depicting them accurately (though it is a skill I would like to improve).

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For the second task, I depicted the coral reef from my memory. I enjoyed this process more than observing, because it gave me more freedom - memories don't need to be as accurate as observations. However, I wasn't as happy with my outcome, because I think it ended up being too sketchy.

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"Imagined" - Worldbuilding Around the Coral Reef

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"Imagined" - Worldbuilding Around the Coral Reef

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For the final task, I allowed my imagination to wander and created a more compositionally complete outcome using the image of a coral reef as a starting point. I imagined a range of fantastical and surrealistic coral reefs that could exist underwater, and also added the central figure of a mermaid (and drew her body imaginatively rather than from observation). I discovered that imaginative drawing is my favourite way to work, because I enjoy the process of creation.

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During the Manifesto Project Workshop, I learned about the meaning of a manifesto, and collaborated to make one with my tutor group. A manifesto is a published declaration of the intentions of an individual or group, and can be a written (or drawn) statement of beliefs, motives or views. Manifestos are used by individual artists, members of political parties or of art movements, and more. In my tutor group, each of us created a list of values and views we all had, and we each added these ideas to 6 pages of our handmade zines. Then, on the other side of the zine, we each made posters which were manifestos for our own individual projects.

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Manifesto Zine Side B - Fine Liner on Card

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How did today's project workshop contribute to my ideas overall?
Writing a manifesto for my character made me think about my intentions at a greater depth, and putting my ideas down onto paper in clear and simple points gave me a better conception of my overall project. Also, creating a collaborative project with my tutor group made me bond with my classmates, and we gained mutual inspiration from one another!

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Alagiah, M., 2022. A giant puppet of a refugee girl to travel 8,000 km across Turkey and Europe. [online] Itsnicethat.com. Available at: <https://www.itsnicethat.com/news/good-chance-theatre-the-walk-public-art-091020> [Accessed 29 September 2022].

Der-Meguerditchian, S., 2017. Silvina Der Meguerditchian - About me. [online] Silvina-der-meguerditchian.de. Available at: <https://www.silvina-der-meguerditchian.de/about-me/> [Accessed 7 October 2022].

El Kaidi, Y., 2022. Djinn in Muslim Culture: Truth or Superstition?. [online] Inside Arabia. Available at: <https://insidearabia.com/djinn-muslim-culture-truth-superstition/> [Accessed 10 October 2022].

Gaiman, N., 2021. Writing 101: The 12 Literary Archetypes. [online] MasterClass. Available at: <https://www.masterclass.com/articles/writing-101-the-12-literary-archetypes> [Accessed 28 September 2022].

Ghorsi, S. 2022. Sahar Ghorsi. [online] Available at: <https://www.saharghorishi.com> [Accessed 11 October 2022].

Hart, F., 2022. ‘Something in me sparked’: the Iranian women using art to protest. [online] the Guardian. Available at: <https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2022/oct/03/something-sparked-iranian-women-art-protest-mahsa-amini> [Accessed 5 October 2022].

Historyisaweapon.com. 2022. RIOT GRRRL MANIFESTO. [online] Available at: <https://www.historyisaweapon.com/defcon1/riotgrrrlmanifesto.html> [Accessed 17 October 2022].

Merchant, R., 2019. Rithika Merchant - About. [online] Rithikamerchant.com. Available at: <http://www.rithikamerchant.com/rithika-merchant-about-.html> [Accessed 3 October 2022].

Oliver-Perham, A., 2022. Question: What is Riot Grrrl? - Rosie. [online] Rosie. Available at: <https://rosie.org.au/blog/question-riot-grrrl/> [Accessed 17 October 2022].

Patterson, M., 2022. The Magic and Splendor of Karagöz – Turkish Shadow Puppets. [online] DailyArt Magazine. Available at: <https://www.dailyartmagazine.com/karagoz-turkish-shadow-puppets/> [Accessed 30 September 2022].

Polman, A., 2020. Astrid Polman | Visual (textile) artist. [online] Astridpolman.nl. Available at: <https://astridpolman.nl/en/the-work/> [Accessed 6 October 2022].

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Barbican.org.uk. 2022. Carolee Schneemann | Barbican. [online] Available at: <https://www.barbican.org.uk/whats-on/2022/event/carolee-schneemann-body-politics> [Accessed 17 October 2022].

Ica.art. 2022. ICA | PENNY WORLD. [online] Available at: <https://www.ica.art/exhibitions/penny-world> [Accessed 16 September 2022].

Tate. 2022. Lubaina Himid. [online] Available at: <https://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-modern/lubaina-himid> [Accessed 4 October 2022].

The British Museum. 2022. Feminine power: the divine to the demonic. [online] Available at: <https://www.britishmuseum.org/exhibitions/feminine-power-divine-demonic> [Accessed 7 October 2022].

Southbanklondon.com. 2022. In the Black Fantastic | South Bank London. [online] Available at: <https://southbanklondon.com/events/southbank-centre/black-fantastic> [Accessed 18 September 2022].

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Burlington Contemporary Journal, 2022. We Will Be. [image] Available at: <https://contemporary.burlington.org.uk/journal/journal/cut-outs-and-silent-companions-theatricality-and-satire-in-lubaina-himids-a-fashionable-marriage-35> [Accessed 7 October 2022].

Davisson, Z., 2012. Jinmenju – The Human Face Tree. [image] Available at: <https://hyakumonogatari.com/2012/06/03/jinmenju-the-human-face-tree/> [Accessed 8 October 2022].

Der Meguerditchian, S., 2017. [image] Available at: <https://www.silvina-der-meguerditchian.de/works/> [Accessed 3 October 2022].

Lina Iris Viktor, 2022. Red/Cazimi. [image] Available at: <https://www.linaviktor.com/red-cazimi> [Accessed 20 September 2022].

London Art Roundup, 2022. Penny Goring - Penny World. [image] Available at: <https://www.londonartroundup.com/reviews/penny-goring-penny-world> [Accessed 17 September 2022].

Pellerin, A., 2019. Carole Schneeman. [image] Available at: <https://www.nowness.com/series/raw-materials/carolee-schneemann-clara-cullen> [Accessed 17 October 2022].

The British Museum, 2022. Pele Figure. [image] Available at: <https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/E_2014-2029-2> [Accessed 6 October 2022].

The Victoria and Albert Museum, 2019. Zenne or Woman. [image] Available at: <http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1008780/zenne-or-woman-karagoz-hacivat-shadow-puppet-unknown/zenne-or-woman-shadow-puppet-unknown/> [Accessed 8 October 2022].

Weiditz the Younger, H., 1530. Herbarum Vivae Eicones. [image] Available at: <https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/338754> [Accessed 5 October 2022].

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Below are my notes from Hayfaa Al-Chalabi's 13/10/22 lecture about storytelling, in which she discussed her graphic novel about refugees in Sweden.

Revisiting stories that have already been told/written and retelling them in a better way

Illustration as a form of telling stories

Refugee centre - power dynamic - u are not allowed to take photos but you are being watched - you can’t document violations against you - but can be illustrated

Who are stories really made for? For the people being deported?

Iraq war - millions of children without parents

Stories are fed to children from a very young age

Narrative continues to be told to adults

The power of telling stories can intimidate narratives that exist in politics

Depicting the refugee/victim as awareness raising puts too much distance between oneself and the victim and can be objectifying

White witness and the contemporary lynching article - the belief that passive viewership can translate into structured justice is an idea as misguided as it is old

Focus should be on exposing the oppressor rather than the victim

Bring the victim into the story - you can do this through data visualisation

Mona chalabi - no such thing as emotionless visualisation - we make choices about fonts, colours, styles…

Create scenarios of joy

Sarah ahmed- hate groups use language of love

“I have no life there, no home, no family, nothing. My future is here”

Take the power from them by telling stories using their structure - energy goes up and up, pauses and sinks

If you are privileged you have tools to do research and you should do that

Julia westerberg - secret/private - respecting identity of the people - they’ve given you part of their identity but their identity is private

There are some things that are beyond your understanding and you stop there

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On the 14/10/22 assessment workshop, we discussed the 5 assessment criteria based on which the "Hunter Gatherer" project will be assessed. Below are my notes.

1. Enquiry
Enquiry can mean questioning your initial thoughts and associations around a subject matter and pushing yourself to think beyond it. Asking questions and building knowledge to investigate the subject matter to great depth. Building new ideas and perspectives through persistent questioning.

2. Knowledge
Researching your subject matter so that you can think beyond your original ideas and view it through multiple perspectives. Combining research into your work to help it take on a deeper meaning, making it conceptually stronger. Using various research methods to gather information together to inform your project.

3. Process
Making a plan and setting goals on the journey to create the work. Developing ideas through failure and refinement. Allowing your ideas to evolve from what you initially intended and allowing the final outcome to come through as a result of vast experimentation. Recording each stage of the project to enable future reflections which can contribute to decision-making.

4. Communication
Considering the site of the work, the audience it is for and it's purpose. Establish the message as the centre of the project and use imagery as a visual language to communicate to the audience. Get feedback from others and respond to it.

5. Realisation
Be aware of  the techniques and knowledge that you have gathered throughout the project (through research and experimentation) - assess which is strongest or most useful to you, and make use of them for your final outcomes. Create a piece of work that combines your strongest ideas and experiments.

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1. Evidence of understanding of the importance of studentship through engagement and participation with the course and your student colleagues (Enquiry)
I think the quantity of work on my Padlet and the frequency of my note-making and recording shows good engagement with the course. However, I could do more collaborative work and evaluations with my classmates, as I think having more feedback from other illustration students would improve my enquiry of my own work. I think my daily drawings of trees was also part of my enquiry into the Mother Earth archetype, as were the drawing labs.

2. Evidence of a critical, foundational understanding of the practices and knowledge base of your subject & discipline (Knowledge)
I think I have expanded my knowledge of the illustration discipline through the lectures I have attended and made notes on. However, I so far haven't dedicated enough time to the Photoshop and Indesign learning modules, and am behind for this reason. Gaining digital art skills would have been very beneficial to my project from early on, and this is an area in which I can improve. Reading literature about the wise woman archetype through history would also have been educationally beneficial - I had books in mind, but didn't have enough time to read them by the project deadline.

3. Evidence of your engagement with the principles of critical reflection and a commitment to personal and professional development (Process)
I think my process could have included more developmental work and experimentation with different mediums. The only mock-up I made of my puppet was the maquette, and I think I should have made a miniature version of my interfacing fabric puppet as preparation for the final outcome. I did a lot of reflection throughout the project which was good for my project development, but my reflections could have gone more in depth and included more analysis.

4. Evidence of skills needed for effective learning and communication of ideas, arguments and criticism in visual and written forms (Communication)
I think I should have had more of an awareness of the audience to whom I was directing my work. Through doing this, I could have developed my ideas in a more communicative direction and enhanced my project. I could have also chosen a specific message I wanted my work to communicate and centred my ideas around that.

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To create my final outcome, I used the materials shown above: Felt, sack patches, interfacing fabric, paper, dried pressed leaves, and gold mesh paper.

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Above is my progress after working on my puppet for 2 days. I cut out each of her limbs using my maquette as a model, increasing the scale slightly. I cut out 2 identical sheets of interfacing fabric for each limb. I then collaged my fabric, paper and pressed leaves in between the sheets of fabric, and then ironed the sheets together. After the fabric had cooled down, I cut away scraps of fabric on the sides and evened them out.

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Interfacing Fabric, Gold Mesh, Dried Leaves, Paper, Felt and Hemp Fabric

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I wanted my character to have facial features, but for them to be ghostly, spooky and slightly off-putting. I wanted her to look like a ghost, and for her face to seem blank until light was shined beneath it.

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Interfacing Fabric, Gold Mesh, Dried Leaves, Paper, Felt and Hemp Fabric

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Collaging objects onto the neck/shoulders, I used two fern leaves to replicate collarbones.

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Interfacing Fabric, Gold Mesh, Dried Leaves, Paper, Felt and Hemp Fabric

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I focused on symmetry for the torso, hinting at the shapes of organs using fabric and leaves. The central leaf corresponds to her lungs, whilst the four-leaf-clovers correspond to nipples.

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Interfacing Fabric, Gold Mesh, Dried Leaves, Paper, Felt and Hemp Fabric

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I made her belly-button as a star, and created a symmetrical and delicate design for her pelvis.