Fiber Sculpture: Another Leap part 2

What am I going to do with this thing?

The threads are dry and now it’s time to remove it from the form.

The process of cutting away the molded threads from the form.

The molded fibers held together very well!  It kept it’s shape wonderfully.

Next, I stitched all of the cutting closed. 

Now What?  I’m still thinking about it. 

I made a second figure, as you can see.   I’m getting a Cirque du Soleil vibe with this.  I need to figure outa mount still too.

Another Leap

This is a fiber adventure I’ve been wanting to try for quite a while:  Sculpting a human form in the midst of joy and freedom!  In this case, I’m following the Leap! idea again. 

I first read about making fabric out of discarded threads and miscellaneous fibers in Quilting Arts Magazine a few years ago.  That method used starch to keep the form.  After trying it out I moved onto glue because it keeps it shape permanently. 

The bowl above is one of the first fiber bowls I made back in 2008.  It’s loaded with beading and wire supports. The woman who purchased this bowl is a bit of an eccentric artist and uses it as a hat for formal functions.  Yes, I’m serious!  Love it!

A post card from The Wayne Art Center announcing a call for entries for Craft Forms 2011 came in the mail  a week ago and the idea was revived.  This idea is perfect for that juried show and my thread clippings bucket was full!

For this application, I didn’t want to make a fabric.  I wanted the whole form to be only fibers.  So I approached the project like paper mache, except with thread.  What a mess!

 

It took a while to get the hang of wrapping and gluing, keeping the threads on the form and off of my fingers.

Securing the threads further. 

All done for now.  It has to dry and then I can remove the fiber form from the wood model.  Think of it like surgery!

As I was working, gravity gave me an idea.  I like the way the threads look hanging from the form during the wrapping.  I intend to mount the form in a falling position, like a sky diver before he pulls the parachute cord.  I will try mounting the form upside down and attaching more threads so that when it’s in it’s proper orientation, it will give the illusion of wind blowing the threads up as the form is falling.

I’m so excited to see how this goes!

Let me know what you think!

XO!

By the way,  I have one fiber bowl decorated for Easter at my shop!