Project: DIY T-shirt design and printmaking.
This CEMENT Side by Side project was lead by Artist/facilitators Fiona Ní Mhaoilir and Mahsa Jahangirpour
Fiona and Mahasa suggested printmaking as a method to the Brain Injury Matters group. The artists began by presenting examples and assessing participant interest, generating ideas, and assessing their needs at the BIM centre around engaging with materials.These were also techniques that could be used to develop ideas for garments at the Fashion Show. All of this seemed like an ideal technique to the participants.
The artists brought in examples of t-shirts, tote bags and other printed matter to assess participants interest. They provided onscreen examples of fine artists and fashion designers who made statement t-shirts and totes with slogans to create awareness on a variety of issues. Through discussion the group discussed how people with brain injury are perceived. The group decided that they would like to experiment and make work which reflects their own ideas and interests for example different music genres, poetry, sport, nature, and science fiction. There was great enthusiasm and a general consensus that we would use printmaking as an effective method to explore mark making and design. Collectively, they decided to work on this approach and goal.
Currently, they have 2 sessions remaining in the project. In these Workshops, they will focus on reviewing their completed printworks with a view to selecting aspects of their print design to make statement t-shirts as a means of self-expression. We all can’t wait to see these outfits on the catwalk!–
