Using exciting and innovative materials, Monk is a mixed media textile artist. She explores the uses of Kunin Felt, Tyvec (polythene fibres) and Lutrader (a non-woven, fibre glass like material which is surprisingly strong) which she then stitches into, burns and layers with acrylics. Her methods are perfect for her main themes of corrosion and rust as these materials are all man-made, therefore react interestingly when heat is applied. Monk’s pieces give a textured and completely natural look.
Free hand machine embroidery has been stitched onto Tyvek paper onto a background of white velvet in circles. Then, Xpandaprint (a paint medium sed on textiles and paper that expends when heated) was “zapped” to allow it to expand and melt the Tyvek paper. Coloured with ink. http://www.purplemissus.com/page4.htm
PVA glue left to dry in a moulding mat. Then it was peeled away and coloured with acrylic. The “white spirit technique” was then used. http://www.purplemissus.com/page4.htm
She used an iron to melt the Tyvek paper to shape. Covered with gesso, with hand stitch used to add texture. This was then all coloured with acrylic. http://www.purplemissus.com/page4.htm
The one that caught my eye was this:
This piece, currently untitled, is made out of Tyvec scrunched with cotton scrim, a loosely woven cotton. French knots surround the scrunched middle. The whole piece is then covered in gesso to strengthen, stiffen and neutralise the colour. Acrylic paint colours over the top of this layer. The colours are very pastel and calm with the blue covering the creases and crevasses. The blue reflects the natural growth and possibly rust that would develop over time. The pale blue and pink are a more subdue choice of colours over the expected browns and golds.
The form in this piece is very natural and accidental. It looks like a corrosive material that has reacted to another material and formed this shape. At first look, the cotton scrim covered in gesso reminds me of a leaf, with the creases and folds resembling the veins, contradicting the chosen media and feel to this piece. The French knots add texture and supports my theory of corrosion; the French knots are bubbles, a side effect of the reaction.
For my own project, I have been inspired to become looser with my samples, allowing the materials I use to naturally react with the processes I put them through, for example heat.
Project Research 