RESEARCH- FOLK ART

Going back to Charle's Fregers images of traditional folk costumes, I was inspired by a couple of the photos to explore folk art imagery and to try and incorporate it into my own illustrations and final costume. Including folk art influences I think will help emphasise the 'traditional' feel of my costume, and also the kind of creepy, retro feel that reminds me of 'The Wicker Man'.

[a]

[b]

Including folk art imagery also allows me to explore making patterns, and means I can juxtapose more haunting illustrations against some more floral images, creating a multi dimensional set of illustrations overall.

Looking at traditional folk art as well as some more contemporary images, I noticed that it mainly includes stylised flora and fauna. This lovely image is of Anežku Kašpárkovu (Agnes Kašpárková) painting traditional ultramarine flowers onto the local chapel [1]:

[c]

And in the village of Zalipie in Poland, locals are encouraged to paint buildings with flowers in the  stye of ceramist Felicia Curylowa, who lived in the village [2].

[d]

As well as the decorative flowers used in folk art, I am also really inspired by these old anthropomorphic animals in traditional folk clothing- they combine lots of themes that I am influenced by for this project and I would like to incorporate something similar into some of my illustrations for the costume. I think these characters by Ukranian artist Vyacheslav Legkobit and Russian artist Yuri Vanetsov emphasise the creepiness of folk art and also have a mythological twist.

[e]

[f]

[g]

[h]

[i]

I also think the use of anthropomorphism is interesting as it blurs the lines between what's real and what isn't, much like wearing masks and costumes. The goat above looks like it could be a costume from Charles Fregers photo series!

Looking at a modern twist on folk art- I was also drawn to Galia Bernstein and her bold and stylised images that are clearly influenced by the flora and fauna of folk art- and I think her limited colour palette is fresh and emphasises the forms of the illustrations.

[j]

When exploring pattern for digital printing I experimented with creating my own folk art inspired patterns, I started by painting some flowers/plants that could be repeated, whilst also using some motifs that I have already used in my illustrations (horses, birds) I scanned them in and made them into photoshop brushes, so it was easy to make new patterns again and again using the same illustrations. 

Although I want my costume to be mostly black and grey, to create a moody and morose atmosphere to reflect the sadness of the story, for these patterns I wanted to experiment with different colour palettes, especially as traditionally folk art is very colourful. 

I then went on to make black and white versions of similar patterns using the same images, and used these as gum arabic prints:

I think the combination of the bold pattern and the kind of washy gum arabic print creates this kind of unsettling juxtaposition which is definitely the kind of atmosphere I like for the costume as a whole. I want the kind of faded, old design to come through like the costume was made 50 years ago and was found in a creepy attic.

Also we put the repeat tile onto a screen so I can print over the top of other fabrics. The gum arabic pattern can be seen above on the left and the screen printed pattern a few patches to the right.

Using the folk art brushes I made I created some characters inspired by the Russian and Ukrainian artists, but also harking back to my first year pagan characters from my book 'The Ritual' (which was inspired by a giant costume from Pitt Rivers)- and it's been really refreshing to compare my characters from first year to this year. 

First year images: 

FMP images:

REFERENCES

[a] FREGER, CHARLES- 2010-2011
[b] FREGER, CHARLES- 2010-2011 
[c] VRBA, ANTONIN- 2007
[d] SPICER, STUART- 2011
[e]OTTINA, LAURA- 2010
[f] OTTINA, LAURA- 2012
[g] OTTINA, LAURA- 2010
[h] OTTINA, LAURA- 2010
[i] OTTINA, LAURA- 2010


Freger, Charles. 2010-2011. Wilderman Series. [Online] [Date accessed 23 April 2017] Available from: http://www.charlesfreger.com/portfolio/wilder-mann/

Vrba, A. 2007. Ornamentová babička Anežka Kašpárkováhttp. 21 May 2007. Folklore Web. [Online]. [Date Accessed 23 April 2017].  Available from ://www.folklorweb.cz/clanky/20070521.php

Spicer, S. 2011. Window, Zalipie,Poland. [Photograph]. [Online]. [Date Accessed 23 April 2017] Available from: https://www.flickr.com/photos/spicpix/5998781762/in/set-72157626957835117

Ottina, L. 2010. The Russian Ark of Yuri Vasnetsov. 5 March 2010. Animalarium. [Online] [Date accessed 23 April 2017] Available from: http://theanimalarium.blogspot.co.uk/2010/03/having-introduced-theme-of-russian.html

Ottina, L. 2012. Country Folks. 12 January 2012. Animalarium. [Online] [Date accessed 23 April 2017] Available from: http://theanimalarium.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/country-folks.html

Ottina, L. 2010. Ukrainian Dance. 10 November 2010. Animalarium. [Online] [Date accessed 23 April 2017] Available from: http://theanimalarium.blogspot.co.uk/2010/11/ukrainian-dance.html

Bernstein, G. 2015. Birds in a Tree. [Silk Screen]. [Online]. [Date Accessed 23 April 2017]. Available from: http://www.dancingkangaroo.com/portfolio.html




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