Sketchbook work.

Childrens hands

As I am also looking at children's hands, as child labour is very common in modern day slavery. Luckily my mother runs her own playschool for children aged 3-5 so I got the opportunity to go in for half an hour and with the parents permission photographs the children's hands. My mother also used this as a teaching opportunity for the children to show them that everyone has different hands, different skin colour and different fingerprints.

Stitching

I have started stitching into paper and other materials as I am currently researching sweatshops where hand stitched garments are the goods which are being produced as a result of modern day slavery. I'm really enjoying this process and think that the results are turning out good. I am hoping to stitch into silk screen prints next week as I have had technical difficulties this week and only have one layer of ink down. Im also stitching into drawings and using stitching as a method of drawing itself. Im currently stitching a lot of hands as I am still looking into hands as a body part and tool of labour and many case studies state that hands become very damaged from stitching all day long as they do in the sweatshops.

I also purchased a young boys tshirt from penneys. Penneys is known for using sweatshops to produce their clothing, regardless of what they say. I stitched an image of handcuffs onto the front of the boys shirt. I did it in a way that from a distance it looks like a smiley face but you then realise that they are shackles.

Casting

I made a cast of my hand in plaster last week, it turned out pretty successful as none of the fingers broke, which is very possible when casting hands as the area is so delicate. Im hoping to make more casts in the future, using different materials, hopefully wax & resin. I also want to immerse materials inside the cast aswell. More than likely the goods which are linked with slavery.

Hands

As I started researching case studies, one thing that I noticed was that the word "hands" seemed to pop up a lot. Hands are seen as a tool of labour and many case studies mention that the slaves hands are noticeably damaged due to the constant hour after hour work. I started photographing my own hands, I then photoshopped them together, in different positions and started drawing from this. I also started drawing in dot work, to suggest the pricks from the needles ( looking at the hand stitched clothing sweatshops)

Coffee Beans

The majority of coffee beans n the world are a result of slave labour. The ivory coast in Africa is renowned for slaves and the coffee bean trade. Children as young as 8 are being sold by their parents or kidnapped to "farmers" who make them work in fields all day without any pay. I think that it is interesting that luxury goods such as coffee beans are linked and the result of such an illegal, horrible and inhuman work.

I began drawing slaves, but using coffee beans as their heads, suggesting that these people have lost their identity to the coffee bean trade and also that their owner only sees them as a source of the product, which turns to money on his behalf. 

I also began looking at Kara Walker's silhouettes she has made simply out of black and white paper, commenting on slavery, race, gender and equality. I myself was inspired and began creating silhouettes out of coffee beans of slaves on white paper.

Year 3 Self Initiated Project

For this years self initiated project, I have decided to base my project on the theme of modern day slavery. Firstly, I began researching case studies from around the world which focus primarily on the people who are being exploited and the goods which are the end product of their trade. Unfortunately, all of us contribute to modern day slavery at some point in our lives, most of the time unknowingly. Everyday products such as coffee, chocolate, sugar, clothing, tobacco etc. are all linked back to modern day slavery. I want to use these materials in my artwork and experiment with them.