Caroline Ingham

6 - 12 July

Cutting the soak-stained canvas support ready for stitching in the translucent areas

Day 1 in the studio

This week in the studio I am intending to finish making ‘Haptic’ ('Blue Form'). Having spent the past three weeks making all the composite parts; soak-staining the support, dying the fabrics for the stuffed pieces then stitching and stuffing each individually, it feels good to be bringing it together at last. I have been imagining exactly how it will be and reflecting on what I have learnt since making my first stitched paintings. I feel surprised how much I am thinking in three-dimensions, imagining how ‘Haptic’ will be displayed and viewed, what will be inside and what will be outside and how best to mount and light the finished piece, so the translucence is visible.

Tomorrow I’ll make some cast plaster forms, the same size and shape as the stuffed pieces. These I will use as moulds for wax pieces that I intend to light from inside and attach mixed in with the stuffed fabric pieces.

Each stage of making takes time but this is valuable as it allows for reflection on the best way to approach the next stage of the process.

Sketch of 'Blue Form' annotated with proposed modifications

Dyed stuffed pieces made over the past few weeks for 'Blue Form'

'Blue Form' in progress, hanging in the studio

first thing this morning

130 cm x 42 cm x 33 cm deep

Stitching the stuffed pieces on to the canvas support for 'Blue Form'

Day 2 in the studio

Haptic - of or relating to the sense of touch.

I started the day by making some plaster pieces to use as moulds for the hollow wax pieces I’m going to attach to ‘Haptic’. Funny how some thing I did so easily at the end of Unit 2 was more difficult to master today. Still I eventually got into the swing of it and produced some pieces that are now drying in their fabric bag moulds. I think they are a little too big so I‘ll making some smaller ones tomorrow then they’ll be dry and ready to use to the end of the week. Each process takes time and can’t be hurried.

This afternoon it was back to stitching. I think I have attached enough stuffed pieces for now. I try to let 'Haptic' evolve organically as I work on it, allowing the materials and its developing form to dictate where it goes next. I intend to 'finish' and stuff some areas along the outer edge and line parts of the inside. I will add some wire in fabric channels to some areas of the inside too so when I hang it up I'll be able to manipulate it into a shape it will then hold.

Plaster piece drying in its fabric bag mould

Stitched stuffed pieces sewn to the inside of

'Haptic' today

Day 3 in the studio

Messy day there’s certainly a lot of cleaning up to do using plaster at home! First thing before the Tutor Group with Dan, I made some more fabric bags to cast some smaller plaster forms. I am going to use these to mould wax pieces to add to ‘Haptic’. I’ve been thinking about a new way of making these, so I have more control over the shape than I did when I experimented in Unit 2. It’s still going to be a bit experimental! I’m plan to dip fabric in wax and drape it over the plaster mould. I’ll make them in two halves and will then attempt to stitch the two pieces together, so they have the same feel of the fabric stuffed pieces.

Making cast plaster pieces

Unwrapping cast plaster pieces

Day 4 in the studio

Unwrapped the cast plaster pieces from their fabric bags this morning ready to use them to form some wax pieces later. I really like the texture and the detail the cast plaster pieces hold. They are very heavy so I don't want to include any of them in 'Haptic' as it will affect the way it hangs but perhaps I'll use them in another piece. They work really well when painted with acrylics and acrylic medium ... more experiments to do.

Unwrapping cast plaster pieces

Much more successful cast plaster pieces made yesterday

Day 5 in the studio

Yesterday Sarah and I talked to each other about our work and recorded it on Zoom. You can watch it here. It was an interesting experience and made me realise how this is another way of digesting what you are doing and reflecting on your work. We thought of a few questions for each other in advance based on what we had been posting here during the week.

Talking Heads, Sarah and I talking about my work

Making moulded wax shapes by dipping fabric in wax and moulding it around the cast plaster pieces made on Wednesday

Trial of stitched moulded wax form added to 'Haptic' and lit internally with LEDs

Day 6 in the studio

On Thursday I made what I thought were some rather unsuccessful moulded wax shapes. I did this by dipping pre-cut fabric shapes in melted wax and them draping them over the plaster casts. I wrapped the plaster casts in clingfilm to stop the wax adhering to them. In this way I made two halves of a mould, like an Easter egg to stitch together in a similar way to the stuffed pieces. But once I’d made them I was worried that they were too insubstantial to be stitched together and wouldn’t work as I wanted them to when added to ‘Haptic’.

Reflecting on what I’d done yesterday I decided I had hurried the process and tried to think of ways to make the resulting moulds more rigid. I thought about adding strips of wire mesh, I cut out the wire mesh and then realised it would be seen through the wax and that wasn’t what I wanted. Instead I returned to the moulds I made on Thursday determined to try and stitch them together and it worked!

Made a whole lot more and really enjoyed trying out different fabrics to see how dipping them in wax affected their translucence, I even added in some strips of fabric remnants as I do when making the stuffed pieces and that worked too. Tomorrow I’ll stitch them together and add them in to ‘Haptic’. I’ll have to work out exactly how to light them with the LEDs so they just gently glow, and no hot spots are visible, my quick experiment this afternoon seemed to work OK, but I might need a different and longer string of LEDs…

Moulded wax shapes ready to be stitched together

Stitching the wax shapes together

Day 7 in the studio

Today I stitched together some of the wax shells, the colour and texture of them is perfect, so tactile and bodily. So much so that I have started to think I should make a separate work made up solely of the wax pieces, possibly lit inside. It might be quite good if it were a small work, just a pile of six or ten, made up of pieces that it is possible to cradle in your hands. This evokes ideas of the corporeal, vulnerability, illness and the need to be cared for. But for the moment these wax pieces will be attached to ‘Haptic’. I’m torn between seeing their fragility as a positive in keeping with the sensibility of the whole piece and worrying they won’t last …

I have been thinking a lot today about Eva Hesse’s deteriorating liquid latex works and Berlinde de Bruyckere’s wax sculpture. I heard an interview with Berlinde de Bruyckere during which she described how it took years for her to perfect the way she uses wax in her work. She often constructs an armature that supports the outer layer of wax, but the works are still terribly fragile. I can see why she is drawn to wax as a material. It also makes me think of early anatomical models. I have ordered some liquid latex to experiment with ...

One of the completed wax pieces ready to attach to 'Haptic'