Cutting out and rearranging the different pictorial elements of wallpaper creates a more intense image. Photo Shirley A
I have also picked up rolls of wallpaper from the bargain bins of a DIY shop, thinking that wallpaper could provide an environment for the book. Wallpaper is an element of the home and this connects with my previous projects that were set in the home: Prelude, High Tea for the Birthday Boy (a papier-mache tea party) and the pop-up sketchbooks. Wallpaper tells the stories of homes and the people that live there. Old buildings often have many layers of wallpaper and peeling back these layers bring elements of chance to the artwork, revealing another story through, for example, a headline from another time.
I’m intrigued by the repetitive patterns of wallpaper, and how they could relate to behavioural patterns that humans make time and again. I like the idea of cutting out the patterns and layering them on top of each other to create an intense, oppressive environment.
Material choices
The materials I intend to use – recycled packaging, wallpaper – and my manipulation of them offers the potential of making intentionally imperfect work – for example, the wallpaper being torn rather than precisely cut. The torn paper and use of rubbish adds a tension within the idea of the ‘ideal’, tidy home. Torn cardboard reveals the different textures within its layers.
In the run-up to Christmas, I’m thinking about how advent calendars provide dimensions of surprise/discovery through actions such as opening a door to reveal an image, which, in turn, divulges further narrative elements. It also makes me think about the different aspects of the advent period and what they represent – old-style calendars have images of angels or nativity scenes, while calendars today often contain chocolates and gifts.