Qiana Ellis [ex jehova witness]
Me [religiously incompetent]
Crista Reid [ex catholic]
12 Beards of the Apostles [at the last supper]-Me: Knitted from a variety of yarns each pattern is slightly different ranging from a soul patch [fourth from right] to full beards. I didn't make one for jesus because then it wouldn't be about the apostles. so Crista scored barbed wire from a friend and we fashioned a crown of thorns. For the opening we placed the table of food in front of the beards so it was like a play on the Last Supper.
Self Titled Tshirts [out of context text]- Crista and I. The three of us spent some time trying to find really strange bible verses and came up with these. I drew out the the designs and helped Crista print them with pigment. The idea was that since the vernacular and usage of words have changed over time certain passages sound strange out of context of the bible and then on the flip side how anything place on a tshirt becomes mass produced and trite. I thought it would be fun to have a bible so people could look up some themselves and underline them within the bible. I didn't want to use my mothers [the one I was reading/looking through] but I wanted the same one so that people could see the exact wording we used for the shirts [it varies depending on the sect's bible] and at the very last minute I found a catholic one that wasn't $50 [two stores had them priced that way]
[this was everyone's favorite one]
this one too
this one wasn't funny but interesting
Bernini's Dove with Dollar Bill- Me: I had this really epic idea of making stain glass windows but it just didn't work out. This was my shitty attempt.
Banners- Crista[religious tokens, prayer cards, crosses, etc beaded together], Please Keep Our Restroom Clean [Johnny Rocket Rosary]-Me, Empty spot where Qiana had a gold leafed D cup bra called The Holy Grail.
The Johnny Rocket Rosary [I used the bathroom coin I stole from a Johnny Rockets as a 'prayer' its the circle behind the cross]
Our Lady of Perpetual Indulgence-Qiana [I think that's what she called it] and two more of Crista's Banners. She digitally printed out this picture of Kim Kardashian framed it then draped fabric round her shoulders. She also made little prayer medals of boobs, dicks, and dollar signs and placed them round the frame.
Normally you write up an artist statement of why you're doing this show but we came up with ten commandment questions of what bothers us about commercialized christianity/catholicism. I was adamant about not making fun of christianity and Crista wasn't entirely sure she how she really felt about the show in general and Qiana was all for being rude so we couldn't agree completely on a statement though I think it would have helped people understand a little better. I mean we were pretty much preaching to the choir at a california art school but some students are strong believers and were wondering why we chose christianity to poke fun of. It's one of the dominant religions in america and one that is constantly enforced in this country so it seemed appropriate. It's the most confusing to me anyway. There's too much to question for me to go into detail about it right now
detail:
The second fabric [also going into the show] is the most complicated to describe as I found out during critique... I started doing this string paper idea in my bookmaking class sophomore year and I've carried it through to other projects [see Indi Posters and Assume Position book] basically I spool out thread on wax paper and mix in PVA glue swirl it together then pick it up and spread it out on another sheet of wax paper layering it and flattening it until I get a large sheet of crispy string paper. I then applied more PVA glue in small dots throughout the sheet and ironed gold leafing to it [you then rub off the leaving so it just leaves traces on the threads]. Next I took some cheap sheer polyester and created a swirl pattern with a heat gun [all polyester doesn't react the same to a heat gun and this one either ruched itself or completely disintegrated depending on the heat and movement of it] then cut it in half to sandwich the thread paper within it. I then used bonding powder to seal the sheets together. It isn't supposed to be shown with a dark fabric behind it but it helps for people to see the detailing in pictures, etc. 
the third fabric didn't turn out like I had wanted it to. I was picturing it as a decal for like the back of a jack not necessarily a fabric for a dress so I don't think I succeeded in the actual project of three yardages of fabric. What I did was melt this incredibly hideous brown/gold fabric then cut out individual shapes around the holes the heat gun created and place them on the fabric in this swooping skeletal shape. I then used a wood burning tool to melt/glue the brown fabric to the green fabric. Could've been cool...
A toile I drew out in inked sections then pieced together on two screens to make sure I had no gaps. Not too happy with it but the idea is where I want to go. I made the images larger than I wanted to in order to save my time and sanity, then printed in...not dye...[I'm totally blanking on the real word for it, not paint...ink paste? ahaha whatever] on 3 1/2 yards of rayon which I want to work with for prints forever. Toilles are so easy and it makes you feel accomplished since you finish in one night. The plan is to clean this up and make the images smaller and make scarves...we will see.
third layer of yellow [makes it a total of six colors: red, yellow, orange, green, blue, purple]:
beginning of second layer of blue [you can see the size of my stencil 3 diamonds tall by 2 and 1/2 diamonds across]:
first layer/screen of red:
a 2 1/2 yard print on cotton. stencils created with rubylith and printed in procion dyes of varying percentages to create different colors when overlapped. This was my second ever screen print and first time using rubylith plus I'd never ever mixed colors before so the colors don't vary much from the actual dyes available [yellow, red, blue] but the grey was my accomplishment. My favorite layer is the first and second combined and I wish I hadn't done the last layer because it makes it all muddled. but that's why I have the stencils so I can do this again...on silk...and make jacket liners with it [!!!]
Screenprinted tessellation of death in procion dye. I drew out an accidental 5/16th of an inch shift both ways for 2 and 1/2 yards cotton. I'm glad I didn't do the entire width of fabric and left it to undulate [it was accidental because the stencil wasn't fitting but shhh] I'd like to do white on an offwhite fabric, I think that would be pretty, then maybe try fiber etching this into silk/rayon fabric.
