Compulsive, Obsessive, Repetitive

Towner Art Gallery Eastbourne

Love Will Tear Us Apart - Claire Morgan

'Till Rolls' - 10,000 Till Rolls - Jill Townsley

Giant Sugar Cube Installation - Brendan Jamison

I went to the Towner art gallery in Eastbourne for inspiration. I visited the new exhibiition, Compulsive, Obsessive, Repetitive. This is a group show of sculptors who obsessively use small scale repetitive processes to create large scale installations.

The exhibition comprises five new commissions by:

• Elpida Hadzi-Vasileva
• Brendan Jamison
• Susie MacMurray
• Jill Townsley
• Henry Seaton (Rex Henry and Graham Seaton)

It also features an earlier work by Claire Morgan.

These artists are motivated by the need to compulsively repeat an action – in a labour intensive and painstaking way - to create a large scale installation composed of multiple elements.

From MacMurray’s sculptural drawing made from corrugated hose to Hadzi-Vasileva’s wall of salmon skins, individual elements are transformed through repetition into something more than the sum of its parts.

My favourite pieces were the sugar cubes and the till roles. There was a castle tower made out of sugar cubes by the artist Brendan Jamison. The city landscape piece, made out of till roles pulled out to different levels. Exposing the pink stripe of the end of the rolls, made by the artist Jill Townsley. It is a free exhibition, on 2nd July til 18th September 2011.

The Paper Bandit

When I went to the New Blood exhibition, we also went along to a book crit event held by Mother advertising agency at the Rag Factory. Whilst there, I looked around their show, the work of Victoria Ulkrikke Iles stood out to me. Her work was illustration and collage. The imagery has a haunted feeling, with dark undertones. Manipulated black and white photographs, to give new meaning to the subjects. Her website is: www.thepaperbandit.com

Autumn Winter Trends 2011 - 2012

Collage Studies - Comme Des Garcons

Collage Studies - Mary Katrantzou

Collage Studies - Suno

Colour Forms - Pedro Lourenco

Colour Forms - Chloe

Parka City - D&G

Parka City - Jean Paul Gaultier

Psychedelic Furs - Marni

Psychedelic Furs - Sonia Rykiel

Psychedelic Furs - The Row

Sixties Minutes - Burberry Prorsum

Sixties Minutes - Bottenga Veneta

Spotty Service - Paul Smith

Spotty Service - Topshop Unique

Tux Love - Chanel

Tux Love - L'Wren Scott

Summer will soon be over, and I will be taking inspiration from fashion week's best pieces. The big trends for autumn winter 2011 - 2012 are:

- Collage Studies
Collaged colour, pattern and texture, more is more.

- Colour Forms
Bright, blocked, electric colour.

- Parka City
Brutal winter, evening, coat.

- Psychedelic Furs
Rainbow, vibrant dye, fur.

- Sixties Minutes
Bouffant hairdos, swinging London, tights.

- Spotty Service
Polka, sequin like, dots.

- Tux Love
Le smoking, tuxedo, black and white.

Birthday Books

Hologram Front Cover, McQueen Face

Hologram Front Cover, Skull

Fierce Skelton Heels

Mussels Hardwear Top

Candyfloss Hair

Horse Hair

I have just had my 23rd birthday, amongst my presents I was given some new art books.

- How to start a fashion label, as my ambition is to start my own business.

- William Morris, and the Arts and Craft Home Book. I enjoy looking at the textile prints of this movement. I see quite a lot of Morris's work at the V&A, such as the beautiful Morris restaurant room.

- Alexander McQueen Savage Beauty, The front cover is a holgram of his face and a skull. Symbolic of his use of skulls in his design work and his own dimise. This book was shortly released after McQueens recent death. It is a beautiful book, containing photography of his stand out pieces. A real tribute to his hard work, there are many impressive images.

- Hair em Scare Them, from the publisher Die Gestalten Verlag. A book focusing on imagery on the theme hair, in a mix of media.