Of Hair and Mirror

The following images are the result of playing around with my webcam whilst wearing my various headdress creations, though the only effect worth experimenting with in this way was the mirror image. The low quality images do actually depict interesting shapes and possible ideas considering future headdresses as well as breathing new form into the pieces!

On a different note, though still relevant to the head, I had a friend over at the weekend for dinner and seeing as I quite like ruining people's hair I decided to create a few masterpieces.. Honestly though I was quite happy with how the styles looked, especially the hair turban. It was fun!

 Goodnight!

Images by KLV

Paper Cut

A material that has endless possibilities, the pure simplicity of paper makes a statement in itself. Though I started off with collage, my first 3D work began with white paper and have since used it in fashion shoots, headdresses, cards and installations. I'm keen to discover more uses and how others apply it to their art, since having a huge pack of A1 paper in the cupboard I have plenty of room to experiment!

Alexandra Zaharova & Ilya Plotnikov

Amy Flurry and Nikki Salk

Federica Roncaldier

Jum Nakao

Manuel Minino

Nicolas Henri

Pratt + Paper & Ralph

Le Creative Sweatshop

Mela

On the weekend, the Southampton Mela Festival took place acting as a promotion for South Asian arts, music and food. Art Asia are the founders of the event and they're now in their thirtieth year having also taken part in the EjectorSeat Arts festival, that I've mentioned before. There was much to see and do but unfortunately I didn't arrive until the afternoon and the weather put me off staying more than a couple of hours, though I enjoyed some great live music, performances and curry in between the showers!

Unrelated to this post but definitely to the last, below are two photos to show how big the mountboard skull is in comparison to a person! On sunday I went with a few friends to Netley Abbey and definitely want to return soon for a photoshoot as I'm pretty sure the demonic mask, in contrast with the angelic headdress I have in mind for the second person to wear, will work well in the ruins of the Abbey.  

Images by KLV

Paper Skull

Not quite a paper skull but close enough, my newly made mountboard baboon skull draws inspiration from the Baule monkey sculptures. Basing my work on primates is not something that happens regularly seeing as I find them kind of intimidating for some reason, mainly chimpanzees though, but there was something about the images in my previous post 'Moon Baboon' that demanded me to create with them in mind. After a few minutes I constructed a paper prototype to give me an idea of what I wanted my next headpiece to look like, next thing I know it's 1am and the larger version was completed! The proportions are out in places but overall I'm happy to use it in a photoshoot soon! I've also posted an image the thank you card I sent to the lovely friends who let me stay with them whilst I was locked out of my flat for what felt like forever, luckily I was staying with nice people in a nice house so can't complain! I think I straightened out the bottom of the card..

Images by KLV

EjectorSeat Festival: The Monarch Colony

My own personal project at the EjectorSeat Festival was a reenactment of the Monarch butterfly and their habit of migration and hibernation. A natural phenomenon that captivated me as soon as I saw on it 'Life' by David Attenborough, when combined with the white butterflies I've used in my work before it resulted in this Monarch Colony. Eventhough the outline of a Monarch butterfly isn't complex, the cutting was a long process but thanks to help from Nikki, Georgie, Lewis, Katie and Daniel, all 570(ish) butterflies were cut, taped and ready for the tree. The tree itself had been picked in advance and at around 7am on the day of the festival I began to cover the trunk and though there were preliminary issues with the butterflies staying to the tree, all was sorted and ready by 12! I was extremely happy to see the way the public interacted with the tree and how they would stick the butterflies back on, a few people even wrote messages on them which was also nice! In a way these paper butterflies migrated, albeit very slowly, from the trunk to the pine needle-like leaves as whenever ones dropped they were placed further from the centre and some only hanging loosely to give the appearance of flapping in the wind. It was lovely to have my family and friends visit the park too 

EjectorSeat Festival: Simon Abbott and Hannah Simpson

Simon Abbott is an illustrator currently based in the sleepy village of Harrold, Bedfordshire. He makes artwork fairly sporadically based on the way he is feeling that particular day, the story he is reading, the music he is listening to or the particular form of popular culture that has attracted him in that moment. Needless to say he tends to flit from idea to idea, yet incorporates a sense of pattern, emotion and mystery throughout. Simon is fond of working with print, sculpture, pencil, pen, paint, and generally any other device he can get his hands on. At the festival he had around 15 rather small birdhouses (12x9 cm to be exact) that were illustrated onto and hung from a big tree.

Hannah Simpson is an illustrator and printmaker. In her spare time she reads comics and makes extravagant paper hats. She is fascinated by epics and mass imagery, and uses traditional printmaking and paper craft to explore these subjects. She makes big pictures with lots in them to explore. At the festival she completed the foolhardy task of illustrating the whole of Homer's Odyssey in one day - and on one piece of paper.

Info taken from
http://www.ejectorseat.co.uk/