University of Huddersfield Repository Crowther, Juliet How Can Portraiture, Produced Via Industrial Digital Embroidery Processes, Connect Me to My Ancestral Textile Heritage? Original Citation Crowther, Juliet (2019) How Can Portraiture, Produced Via Industrial Digital Embroidery Processes, Connect Me to My Ancestral Textile Heritage? Masters thesis, University of Huddersfield. This version is available at http://eprints.hud.ac.uk/id/eprint/35031/ The University Repository is a digital collection of the research output of the University, available on Open Access. Copyright and Moral Rights for the items on this site are retained by the individual author and/or other copyright owners. Users may access full items free of charge; copies of full text items generally can be reproduced, displayed or performed and given to third parties in any format or medium for personal research or study, educational or not-for-profit purposes without prior permission or charge, provided: • The authors, title and full bibliographic details is credited in any copy; • A hyperlink and/or URL is included for the original metadata page; and • The content is not changed in any way. For more information, including our policy and submission procedure, please contact the Repository Team at: [email protected]. http://eprints.hud.ac.uk/ HOW CAN PORTRAITURE, PRODUCED VIA INDUSTRIAL DIGITAL EMBROIDERY PROCESSES, CONNECT ME TO MY ANCESTRAL TEXTILE HERITAGE? JULIET MARY CROWTHER A thesis submitted to the University of Huddersfield in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts by Research The University of Huddersfield May 2019 WORD COUNT 23156 COPYRIGHT STATEMENT i. The author of this thesis (including any appendices and/or schedules to this thesis) owns any copyright in it (the “Copyright”) and s/he has given The University of Huddersfield the right to use such copyright for any administrative, promotional, educational and/or teaching purposes. ii. Copies of this thesis, either in full or in extracts, may be made only in accordance with the regulations of the University Library. Details of these regulations may be obtained from the Librarian. This page must form part of any such copies made. iii. The ownership of any patents, designs, trademarks and any and all other intellectual property rights except for the Copyright (the “Intellectual Property Rights”) and any reproductions of copyright works, for example graphs and tables (“Reproductions”), which may be described in this thesis, may not be owned by the author and may be owned by third parties. Such Intellectual Property Rights and Reproductions cannot and must not be made available for use without the prior written permission of the owner(s) of the relevant Intellectual Property Rights and/or Reproductions 2 ABSTRACT Autoethnographic reflective research methodologies are used to explore the self and ancestral textile heritage, through the modes of self-portraiture and industrial digital embroidery processes. The research project is a practice-led, process-driven study of ancestry, textile production, technology, CAD design, industrial processes and sampling. Furthermore, drawing on the discipline of fine art portraiture has been transferred to textile methods and processes, in a bid to connect myself to personal ancestral industrial textile heritage through perceived shared experiences of making. Through the immersion of the virtual and physical realms of digital embroidery production, I have acquired sensory experiential understandings that directly reference my ancestral industrial textile background, whilst acquiring a new skillset and discipline. Familiar creative practices have been transformed, whereby personal experiences of portrait practice are redefined through embroidery tools, materials and digital machinery and by choosing the medium of digital embroidery to create portraiture, I have straddled both arenas of fine art and contemporary textiles. By performing an object-based study of the Amaya digital embroidery machine, in part for data analysis purposes, a close involvement and engagement with the Amaya and CAD design software, gave rise to the symbiotic relationship, a collaborative working partnership between myself and the Amaya and therefore, this was the most surprising and unexpected outcome of the research project. KEYWORDS: - Autoethnography, Practice-led, Portraiture, Ancestry, Heritage, Embroidery, Textiles, Industry, Processes. 3 DEDICATIONS AND ACKNOWLEGDEMENTS • Grandma Mary Hartley (nee Clements) and Grandad Edward Hartley • Dr Claire Barber • Dr Amanda Tinker • Elnaz Yazdani • Melissa Fletcher • Ellie P Smith • Dr Dale Holmes • University of Huddersfield Post Graduate Research Department / School of Art, Design and Architecture 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS COPYRIGHT STATEMENT…………………………………………………………………………………….2 ABSTRACT……………………………………………………………………………………………………….3 DEDICATIONS AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS………………………………………………………………4 LIST OF FIGURES……………………………………………………………………………………………….7 INTRODUCTION…………………………………………………………………………………………………9 CHAPTER 1. METHODOLOGY……………………………………………………………………………12 1.1 AUTOETHNOGRAPHIC REFLECTIVE RESEARCH……………………………………………..12 1.2 TECHNOLOGY, PROCESSES AND SYSTEMS OF DOCUMENTATION……………………...14 1.2.1 Technical Exploration…………………………………………………………………………………15 1.2.2 Collection of Raw Data: Written Notation, JPEG Photos, MP4 Movie Clips and Snipping Tool Screen Capture………………………………………...…………………………….18 1.2.3 Online Resources and Virtual Storage Facilities……………………………………………………19 1.3 DIGITIZATION AND SAMPLING PROCESSES…………………………………………………...21 1.3.1 Scanned/Uploaded JPEG Images for Digitization Process……………………………………….22 1.3.2 Digitized Sample Designs…………………………………………………………………………….23 1.3.3 Images of design templates and digitization processes via screen capture JPEGs…………….25 1.3.4 OFM Files for use on Amaya 2 software program…………………………………………………..27 1.4 THE PHYSICAL WORKSPACE……………………………………………………………………..27 1.5 IMMERSION IN INDUSTRIAL PROCESS………………………………………………………….30 CHAPTER 2. REVIEW OF CREATIVE PRACTICE………………………………………………………33 2.1 PORTRAITURE……………………………………………………………………………………….33 2.1.1 Portraiture: Perfect finish (photo realism) versus Imperfect finish (errors/mistakes)……………35 2.2 WHY CHOOSE EMBROIDERY AS AN ART MEDIUM TO CREATE PORTRAITURE?..........37 2.2.1 Different Qualities & Values of Embroidered Portraiture…………………………………………..37 2.3 ANCESTRAL INDUSTRIAL TEXTILE HERITAGE………………………………………………...39 2.3.1 Engaging with Industrial Heritage……………………………………………………………………42 2.3.2 Textile Language (Idioms)……………………………………………………………………………42 5 2.3.3 Shared Experiences of Making………………………………………………………………………44 2.3.4 Industrial Processes; Engaging with Virtual and Physical Methods of Production………………46 2.4 SECONDARY RESEARCH………………………………………………………………………….47 2.4.1 Comparative Textile Artists…………………………………………………………………………..48 2.4.2 Andrea Cryer…………………………………………………………………………………………..48 2.4.3 Caroline Bartlett……………………………………………………………………………………….50 2.4.4 Elaine Reichek…………………………………………………………………………………………52 CHAPTER 3. SYMBIOTIC RELATIONSHIP; A COLLABORATIVE ENQUIRY………………………….55 3.1 THEORY……………………………………………………………………………………………….55 3.1.1 AUTOETHNOGRAPHY RESEARCH THEORY…………………………………………………...57 3.1.2 DATA ANALYSIS……………………………………………………………………………………...57 3.1.3 Collected Raw Data from Digital Embroidery Processes………………………………………….58 3.2 DATA BAR CHART AND LEGEND INFORMATION………………………………………………62 3.3 SYMBIOTIC PROCESS: HUMAN – MACHINE – TEXTILES…………………………………...66 CHAPTER 4. EXHIBITION SYNOPSIS…………………………………………………………………...71 4.1 EXHIBITION REVIEW………………………………………………………………………………..71 CONCLUSION…………………………………………………………………………………………………..74 APPENDIX 1 - DATA BAR CHARTS………………………………………………………………………….76 APPENDIX 2 - RAW DATA…………………………………………………………………………………….82 APPENDIX 3 - GLOSSARY OF TERMS……………………………………………………………………...83 APPENDIX 4 – EXHIBITION INFORMATION………………………………………………………………..88 REFRENCES……………………………………………………………………………………………………94 BIBLIOGRAPHY………………………………………………………………………………………………..96 6 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1 Left: Line Drawn Self-Portrait, Right: Self-Portrait Photo ....................................................... 13 Figure 2 Example of Abbreviated Written Notation. Correlating Layout of Amaya Coloured Bobbin Numbers. [JPEG Photograph] ............................................................................................................... 16 Figure 3 Amaya Digital Embroidery Machine Bobbin Holder, Capacity x 16 Bobbins. [JPEG Photograph] ........................................................................................................................................... 17 Figure 4 UniTube ‘How To Use The Amaya Digital Embroidery Machine’. [Streaming video file]. [Screen Capture JPEG] ......................................................................................................................... 17 Figure 5 'Snipping Tool' of Amaya OS CAD Software. [Screen Capture JPEG] .................................. 19 Figure 6 Work Station: Amaya Digital Embroidery Machine and Desktop Computer with Design Shop Pro / CAD OS Software. [JPEG Photograph] .................................................................. 20 Figure 7 Adobe Illustrator & Self-Portrait Design. UniDesktop. K Drive Student Storage. [Screen Capture JPEG] ...................................................................................................................................... 21 Figure 8 Left Image: 3D Green Stitches Over Crown Chakra Background Template in Purple. Right Image: Green Stitches without Background Template. [Screen