A Month of Somethings – Breast Feeding in Public.
kick start my most recent project, I wish to touch back on a mini project I produced a while ago which looks at breastfeeding in public. With strong feelings towards empowering women and supporting body confidence, I feel this topic is very relevant and relates to many people. I also aimed to choose an area to explore that’s fresh and untouched by my creative mind.
As an individual who was breastfed and comes from a strong female-driven family, I believe starting a child’s life with the ultimate starter pack of bacteria fighting nutrients is key to great health. Having not had a child yet, I turned to those who have in order to collect information and personal experiences. Internet research was also carried out in order to understand how a breast functions and the effects of breastfeeding. I wish to one day breastfeed my child!!!
Having thought of ways to document change, development, growth, mood, emotion and individuality a few ideas came to mind…Having not touched upon print in such a long time I incorporated this specific technique area! Experimenting with drawings that turned into prints, free carved block printing and etching. I found the techniques produced stiffened results which felt impersonal and forced. In order to reflect the intimate but exposed task of breastfeeding I realised I needed something raw and bold…
Why don’t you print your boobs?
In the moments after joking about possible ideas, printing my boobs seemed the most wonderful! So with my ink pad and cartridge paper, I rushed to the toilets to produce some prints! After a rather cold 10 minutes of sandwiching paper between myself and the wall of the toilet cubicle, I returned to the studio with some one-off prints. I call them one-off prints as I realised it wasn’t possible for me to reproduce the same prints with my boobs twice…Take a look…
As a way to develop, I needed to collect more points. Even though my own boobs produced a wide range of results it only made sense to print books owned by other women. Having asked a few friends and family members I gathered a sufficient amount of visual evidence to move forward. My experience working with others people’s personal space was interesting. I could see the emotional connection between my candidates and their body. Even though the individuals portrayed confidence when I asked them to join in, this quickly dissolved as I began to apply paint/ink. They began to show other emotions such as nervousness and shyness. But by the end of the process, with their unique prints laid out in front of them, they radiated interest and pride in what they had produced. Laughter even occurred as they examined their prints up close. This roller coaster of emotion I feel was key to the building of my work and how I wish for my audience to react.
- Through communicating with fellow artists and embracing an urge to do something I uncovered a unique and wondrous thing.
- The results of making a piece with others who do not travel an artists journey open your eyes to what others see and feel. Experiencing the radiation of various emotions has strengthened the link between artist, audience and artwork.
- This ‘roller coaster’ of emotions has set another height for my work to reach.
The Doodles…
To expand my prints and take them further I need to find a purpose or give them a place. Thinking of ideas I asked questions such as: Where would I like them to seem? Where would viewers expect them to be seen? Where are they in their most effective of place? Who would they affect and how can make this happen?
Ideas
Swatch Cards: A box that contains two lots of swatch cards held together by circular eyelets. The cards allow the viewer to alternate between the different prints, holding them up to the person’s chest they suggest individuality and non-symmetry.
Breast Feeding Logo: The logo I imagine to use the prints as a base upon which type fonts and other imagery would lean on.
Baby Muslin: As a way to advertise the campaign mothers supporting the cause would receive manufactured muslins with the logo printed on. The muslins I also imagined to be used in an advertisement. Using stop frame animation I would film a mother of a female figure slinging the muslin over her shoulder as though using it with a child. In order to see the logo, the muslin would at some point be stretched out in order to be viewed clearly.
ASH 