Sunday, January 25, 2009

My Paper Ribcage


My first fine arts course at OCAD is proving to be loads of fun and I am so relieved to have made the decision to switch out of design. The course I'm taking is 'Experimental Production' and our first assignment was to create an adornment for the human body. It's definitely the most exciting project so far at OCAD. And since the process is a huge part of the project, I thought I would document it a bit.

I'm making a ribcage inspired corset out of wire and pattern paper. I've printed anatomical drawings from Gray's Anatomy onto the paper before gluing it to the wire frame. To strengthen the pieces I'm coating them in gel. In these photos you can see the pieces hanging to dry. They are like little animal skins. I'm pleased with how they turned out. The translucence and shine give them a nice grotesque look. The gel also makes the pieces very flexible, which will be important when this adornment is worn.