PHOTOS BY ABIGAIL OLSON
MODEL HO TIN ALBERT CHAN
A FAMILIAR WARTH
For this project, I was inspired by patchwork quilting that come from Ohio. The women of my family have been quilting for generations and their blankets have been passed down through the years. These brightly colored blankets connect me to an extended family I otherwise did not see often growing up. My mom used to tell me stories about the quilts, who made them and what they were made of, giving them a life of their own in my mind. Just as my mom expanded the story of the quilts, I wanted to enlarge the floral pattern commonly found in the patchwork quilts my great grandmother made. To do this I researched historical quilts that use an applique method to create larger non geometric motifs and explored my own methods of achieving a similar result.
I was also inspired by the silhouettes and design process of Jean Charles de Castelbajac. By using quite simple silhouettes in his designs he could focus on interesting graphics or treatments to his pieces. His most notable piece was his original blanket coat. By using the idea of a blanket coat I was interested in finding my own interpretation of it by mixing it with a different coat archetype. In his design process, he draws with rather large markers and draws quickly not seeking perfection but getting to his point graphically. I wanted to try this drawing style in my own work to try and find a new style of sketching that could bring something new to my work.