Studio practice

 Willow coat hanger  

When thinking about  the end of year exhibition for this project I know I want to have the actual leaf outfit to be hung as part of it. I know I want it hung on some type of clothes hanger as I think it will look better than on a mannequin, I think on a mannequin it could draw to much attention to the clothes and shape of a body rather than the leaves. I was initially thinking to just use a plain wire or wooden coat hanger but it was suggested to me that I try make my own out of some alternative materials. Recently for one of our professional practice talks an artist called Rachel Carter came in to talk about her sculpture work, she talked about using various techniques and materials in her time as sculptor. When thinking about how to make a hanger I remembered Rachel talking about how she used willow to create sculptural forms by soaking it in water to make it malleable, I wanted to try this. I briefly researched online about weaving Willow, I couldn’t find any mention anywhere about how to possibly make a woven coat hanger, instead I looked at the techniques used to make the handles of willow baskets to try adapt some of the techniques. I used one length of willow to create a base frame in the shape I wanted, after I just tried to wind pieces around the frame shape and trying to slot the end pieces in the gaps to make it stay in place. I wasn't able to make a traditional hanger shape, I made more of a display hanger as I couldn't get the willow to stay in the traditional half loop shape but I think this works just as well for display purposes. This process was a little difficult to begin with as its completely new but ultimately just something you have to keep practicing to get your head around it.