Jorja Finch BA (Hons) Textiles in Practice
Specialising in embroidery and mixed media, the focus of my work is to provoke a surrealist atmosphere or feeling. I intend for the viewer to find an escape from the real world by using various concepts.
The work displayed showcases the theme of surrealism which has been constant throughout my final year at university. I find the surrealist theme almost to be a coping mechanism from normality as it has allowed my creativity to thrive even with the circumstances of lockdown. Using the surrealist theme essentially became my escape from lockdown as I was able to use my practice to develop work essentially the opposite of my everyday life.
The processes I use within my practice are varied. I experiment with many materials and processes as I always felt as though I could never stay within one area of textiles, constantly evolving or learning. I gain inspiration from the natural domains that surround me, experiment through drawing to begin with and take a surrealist approach as I develop my work further using processes such as the laser cutter or beading as a drawing tool.
Each project set out to investigate how colour can affect one’s mood and the overall atmosphere. The work showcased experiments with this concept showing how warm and cool colours can encourage a specific feeling for the viewer. Keeping contexts such as interior, product design, installation and embellishment in mind has allowed myself to expand my practice as well as collaborate processes.
My goal is to inspire others to escape within my work the way I did during lockdown. Although normality is something many are thriving for, I almost found lockdown became my new normality and working in a surrealist way helped myself escape from this ‘new normality’. I hope to continue my varied way of working and bring my surrealist approach to all contexts.
