TOP ARTS: VCE 2005
Bridie O'Leary
Chains 2005
Presentation College
Student Profiles
Interview: Bridie O'Leary
Presentation College –
Art
Chains is created from felt which I made by hand. It was moulded around my head. This sculptural work was part of an autobiographical series of hats about my inner emotional life. This hat represents carrying a burden and weight around with you in every moment. The seven chains all represent aspects of my life that I find difficult to deal with and thus remain attached to my subconscious, eating away at my happiness.
Describe the Ideas behind your work short-listed for Top Arts.
The theme I chose for Art is the Hat, which I have transformed into a sculptural expression of human emotions. I am fascinated by wearable art and what it can offer the artistic world. My art pieces are biographical works which express who I am and the way I think, which I explore through the dominant mediums of handmade felt and silk paper.
What were your starting points? Where did your inspiration come from?
Inspiration came from my personal feelings of what it is like to complete VCE. I was inspired by space age, science fantasy costume. My major starting point was looking at the concept of a hat- and what it says about the individual wearing it. I moved onto the concept of hats telling a story or narrative.
What media/materials did you select and why?
I used the materials of handmade felt making, silk paper making and PVA glue because those materials are suited to sculptural works and creating wearable 3D works. I have also had experience with those materials. I chose red as a colour because it embodies strength and passion and pain. I wanted to juxtapose the ideas of weakness versus truth.
How did new technologies influence your ideas or working methods?
I didn't use computers. Drawing was a key process in my creativity - it helped me to establish new ideas. Magazines were a useful base to experiment with and inspire new shapes and forms in developing some of the hats. For example if I cut out a face from a magazine to paint a face over, the shape of the face would automatically direct the form of the hat.
What challenges/difficulties, if any, did you encounter in producing your work?
Feltmaking can be unpredictable because it is a handmade process using natural fibres, which means that all the extraneous factors such as how long you felt the garment for, the quality of the wool tops, the addition of other materials ( for example, wire that I used in the green and yellow hat ) and so on, change the end result. I found that with a lot of the patterns that I created for the designs of my hats often changed (shrunk more one way than the other) and so therefore I would use that development to create something different, something even better. The amount of time wasn't a problem, more of a constraint. If I had more time I could have made more hats it is as simple as that.
Were there any influences from other sources that were significant in the production of your work, e.g. literature, media, historical, or political events? How did this impact on the development of your work?
I found the most useful resource for inspiration was the things closest to me and my emotions. Someone who is of great importance in my life is my sister. She is the challenge and the reward.
Were there any ethical or moral issues or concerns evident in your work?
There were no overt ethical, moral or political issues in my work, they were all personal issues for example sisterhood and coping with VCE.
Example Support Material
What resources did you access, e.g. libraries, galleries, newspapers, magazines, art programs, websites, films, events and performances?
- Vogue and Bazaar, Fashion magazines,
- Textiles Fibre Forum Magazine
- Internet historical links
- Newspaper The Age, A2
- Exhibition postcards
- Hats symposium The Melbourne Hat Symposium was held at the St. Kilda Town Hall in St. Kilda Road in 2004
What exhibitions did you see in 2005? Was there a specific exhibition that influenced the development of your ideas and working methods?
- Hat Symposium, Melbourne
- Vivienne Westwood , Canberra .
- Naomi Otto, Craft Victoria
- Dutch Masters, NGV
- Akira Isogawa, NGV
Did you see Top Arts 2004? If so what was your response?
When I saw top arts 2004, I was struck by the new ideas of some of the work. There were some brightly coloured interiors painted by a boy that made an impression on me they were so expressionistic. The pencil drawing done by a girl of an empty interior of a theatre - I thought the drawing had the real ambiance of a theatre, there was a real sense of space also. There were also two paintings done by a boy titled "Intrusion" and something else? They were very eerie and very beautiful. The wearable art wasn't impressive because firstly it was too much like fashion. These works could not have been distinguished between The Top Designs exhibitions. It wasn't ground breaking work, I didn't find them inspiring technically, I didn't connect personally.
Did you consider presentation and conservation issues in the process and production of your work?
Yes, I always wanted the hats to be worn as performance pieces. The hats come to life on people. Also the works look good together, they compliment each other as a collection or body of work.
What advice would you give to students undertaking Art or Studio Arts?
Use every bit of time that you have access to. The more work you create the more consolidated your ideas become. And the more interesting your ideas develop.
What were the highlights of your studies in 2005?
Coming to the realisation that a work you were in the process of creating realises your design. I exhibited at the Presentation College Art student exhibition. I had a lot of students say to me that that is how they felt too during VCE, or when they were sad, they felt entrapped, chained, burdened etc. People were generally curious and a bit freaked out by them. People generally understood the symbolism. For example carrying the weight of the chains.
Are you planning to pursue a career in the arts?
Yes Fashion and design RMIT Costume Design NIDA
What are you doing in 2006?
Working in Lumina Gallery. Lumina Gallery is a textile and fibre Arts gallery and is located in East Malvern . Hopefully I will be accepted into RMIT for fashion – so far I have got an interview , which means they liked the way I did on the test.
We had to complete a design test based on a design brief. The focus was designing for a couple going to the races. We had to complete development sketches, 2 sets of final outfits in colour, then we had to specify our design brief and make sure everything was annotated. It went for three hours, and I didn't finish but I designed the outfits in relation to the horses, including saddles, fur , whips , tails etc.
After the test RMIT decide who they will interview and this is even before they have seen your marks. My interview went very well and I am now studying fashion at RMIT and I am loving it.
The hats I completed for VCE art and the Elizabethan dress that was in Top Designs 2004 were published in the magazine Textile, issue 1. No. 81. 2006 . It accompanied an article written by me.
The remaining hats and dress are going up to Orange, NSW, to an exhibition of wearable art.
