An insight to my work in polypropylene

Emma Davies
January 2006

Inspired by the art of basket weaving, I work with a broad variety of polypropylene material – finding, cutting, opening, heating, molding, and sometimes weaving - to create vessels and forms, many of which are a modern take on the traditional woven form.

Borne out of my fascination with the woven work of Australian indigenous artists, it was my strong desire to learn this art combined with restricted resources (child-free time and money), which led me to realize and explore materials immediately accessible to me.

Staring into my fruit bowl gave me a flash of inspiration - I saw an onion bag in a different light. I saw that it had the form of a basket and I figured I could use this basic and somewhat lowly type of packaging material as a medium to create my own style of woven forms.

The onion bag was a malleable and tough structure through which I could weave thread to create a piece that would emulate a woven form or vessel. I used anything that I thought strong enough to support the stitched structure - linen threads, nylon, waxed and cotton threads – to create patterns and interesting colour combinations.

The polypropylene was perfect as a framework but the more I used it the more I realised that I was actually attracted to the polypropylene material itself. Rather than obscure the plastic with thread I wanted to accentuate its inherent and varied characteristics. I was becoming more and more intrigued by the possibilities of challenging the traditionally functional role of polypropylene as packaging, and exploring the tensions between its delicacy, strength, and beauty, using its strong industrial colours to make a statement.

With an over enthusiastic desire to explore the potential of polypropylene as a modern medium for the creation of woven forms and vessels, I went to the polypropylene wholesalers to get a feel for the range of polypropylene netting available. I was rewarded with a vast selection of material to choose from, the colours, patterns, weaves, and textures all immediately stimulating to my eye. The rolls of polypropylene netting enmasse were almost an instillation in themselves, with their unique texture and brilliant primary colours having an aesthetic appeal that belied their crude purpose as packaging.

Inspired by the medium enmasse in its raw state, my desire to experiment further was fuelled. I was excited to discover that the medium could be manipulated with heat without the loss of its basic form. This took the medium to another dimension but I soon realised there were limitations.

The polypropylene product is not manufactured for fussy artists and I found that I was frustrated by the limited manufacturing specifications. The gauge of the threads is limited for certain purposes and there are only five or six basic colours. One really elegant fine-gauged version of the poly netting is only available in a rather lewd bright orange!

It was an exhibition at e.g. et al., Melbourne that helped propel my endeavors to pursue the polypropylene medium. The show was reviewed in the The Age newspaper and an image of one of my pieces caught the eye of Lindy Allen from the Melbourne Museum who made the effort to see the work first hand. She later told me she found my window installations totally engaging and was struck by the delicate and lace-like quality of the work that belied the material they were made from.

At this time Lindy was starting to plan the Woven Forms exhibition but had some misgivings about whether my pieces were appropriate. Were they baskets, and would the other curators accept this type of work in the show? In the end I think Lindy was moved by her original impressions where the ‘intriguing basket-like’ nature of the pieces had caught her eye. I’m not sure what the other organisers thought but I suspect that Lindy was more than happy to include them because she wanted the exhibition to challenge traditional notions of what actually constitutes a woven form and to throw open such questions as, when is a basket not a basket?

I was not even thinking about how to categorise my work as by this time I had become so involved with exploring the medium that I had almost forgotten my original inspiration to create a woven form. So it was refreshing that somebody else had closed the circle and reminded me of what I had set out to achieve in the first place. The irony of course is that I am still unable to weave, yet have produced objects instantly recognisable as baskets and other woven objects.

Susan Purdy, a fine art photographer got to see some early versions of the pieces I was making and was inspired to want to use them for a series of pictures. The gelatin silver photograms were a complementary medium for capturing the elegance of the sculptural forms. These black and white images supplemented the actual polypropylene pieces as they were exhibited for my second exhibition at the ‘Net-weight’ show in Sydney. The gallery was a long narrow space with white walls, perfect for illuminating the pieces and projecting the distorted and intricate shadows of their weave.

For ‘Woven Forms’ I wanted to push the possibilities of the medium even further. In the previous works, the integrity of the polypropylene netting was maintained, even the though it was moulded into forms for which it was never intended. For the new works, I have been manipulating the medium by cutting, ironing and welding. This technique freed me from the constraints of the manufactured material, and the results are no longer recognisable as the original polypropylene product. This new technique enabled me to create new work such as ‘Poly-flowers’ in this show.

If I think about the similarities between fibreglass and polypropylene I suspect it is their fibrous, textured nature that has drawn me to both. Even though I have worked with different materials to produce three- dimensional forms, the common strength of my work appears to be the combination of form, texture and colour.

My work is often inspired by the shape, texture and colour of things around me, from natural found objects - seed pods, hardy flowers, mallee roots, sea sponge, etc – to man-made items – indigenous vessels, bottles, children’s’ toys, and even everyday plastic litter washed up on the beaches. Often natural found objects appeal to me on all three fronts of form, texture and colour while many of the man-made objects satisfy only on one or two of these levels. The inherent textural/ woven appeal of the polypropylene material itself and the techniques I’ve developed enable me to strike the right balance between form, texture and colour in my work.

Working with this highly man-made plastic polypropylene material gives a contemporary edge to my often delicate, woven-like creations that are rich in texture and strong in sculptural in form.

I have recently established contacts that could open the possibility of custom colouring the polypropylene. This opens up a whole new world of possibilities where I can develop and manipulate the material. But I have to check myself as I realise there is more than enough unexplored potential with the polypropylene as it comes delivered direct from the factory.

With no formal training, at a very basic level, my innate feeling for form, texture, and colour guide me through the creative process to develop and complete each piece. I am self-taught and self-motivated and actively persue an approach of trial and error in working with new materials and developing techniques to create my form of artwork. My experience has taught me that my mistakes are often the pathway to a new discovery.

Currently I am exploring the potential and boundaries of the polypropylene using a “patch-work” approach. I am working on commissions and supplying retail/gallery spaces with pieces. I am developing an exhibition to be held at Craft Victoria in July this year, and doing ongoing work for The Object Gallery in Sydney, Form in Perth, and Tarrawarra museum in Melbourne. I am also working towards a collaboration with photographer, Dieu lieu, who will be creating a visual story about the “Polly dollies”, dolls I make with polypropylene netting. I will be scavenging for new ideas and searching to make meaning or purpose with the poly.

I am really interested in the prospect of going to Darwin in August where I will be participating in a conference and workshop that aims to foster collaboration between non-indigenous and indigenous weavers. From what I see of indigenous artists they are open to new techniques. I will be fascinated to see what people will make of my innovations when juxtaposed with the traditional forms. There will be plenty for me to learn and I can see myself working further with indigenous artists, hopefully in their communities, over a more extended period.

In some ways it is ironic that I am in this show with weavers. I don’t feel part of their ancient tradition and have none of their highly developed technical craftsmanship. I did have a go at teaching myself weaving and tried to devote myself to the meticulous effort required to weave. Somehow it is not the way that things worked out. I think I have a bit of the inventor in me and this is where it has led me. I know it is difficult to classify my work, but according to the Macquarie dictionary definition of ‘weave’, that is “ to interlace threads, yarns, strips, fibrous material so as to form a fabric or texture”, then I guess I am actually a weaver.