Research
To start off our research my partner and I first created a mind map filled with how we have felt about the pandemic and about masks. We felt that the pandemic was very frustrating due to the fact that many people would ignore guidelines that have been implemented to protect us. Masks were actually a good thing for us because while they are a bit uncomfortable and annoying they are ultimately here to protect us and keep us all safe. We actually feel that masks have become a sort of safe space for us to hide our faces when we feel insecure or when its cold out and it keeps our noses and cheeks warm. After understanding those facts we went on to figure out our own individual strengths and how they could work together. We brainstormed and discovered that we were quite opposite. While I was into creating things with my hands in a 3-D aspect, such as crocheting, my partner was more interested in painting and drawing in the 2-D. And while my partner was obsessed with all things horror-related and creepy my aesthetic consists of hearts, flower, and butterflies. We then realized some ways we could work together, I could create a crochet balaclava, something I’ve wanted to create for a while, and she could paint on top of the balaclava to give it a more realistic and creepy feel. We decided to create something horror related since I felt it would be fun to try out creating something with blood to show how the pandemic has affected us.
I received the inspiration to create a crochet balaclava from the recent surge of fellow fiber artists creating their own different themes and versions of balaclavas. One account in particular was a huge influence in my inspiration to create a balaclava and it is @alexandria.masse, her entire account is dedicated, primarily, to created unique balaclava designs. One in particular I found very interesting was her centipede balaclava, I loved how the centipede wrapped all around her face and head and how uncomfortable it felt. She had recently had an exhibit at the Anna Leon Owens Gallery from February 8th to the 12th that featured a 13 meter long crochet centipede with over 100 legs, in addition to a nestle of giant crocheted eggs for it to wrap around. The exhibit was incredible and so creepy and jarring it made me want to try and pursue the horror genre and create something new.
After knowing that I wanted to create a crochet balaclava for this project I went to YouTube to find some tutorials that could help me understand how to build one up. I ended up finding one that was relatively close to what I envisioned however, it still required some adjustments to create exactly what I wanted. I actually was looking at tons of different tutorials and I had tested out a different one that built up from the bottom up rather than top to bottom. However, that one did not work as well and it made things unnecessarily complicated. When I was using this pattern it still had some issues and so I simply created my own pattern using the idea that she had shown me. I just needed to find the video to understand how the balaclava builds up since I had never made one before.
Exercises
An exercise we did was to work in our table groups to come up with ideas for a type of headwear that would show fluidity, dynamism, and power. It needed to be a form of defense because safety was a priority. For my team we chose to show power and defense by adding spikes to the the head in the shape of a crown to also show power. The spikes protected the head of someone in power since the head is vital to their ability to rule or protect. We added a jewel veil that goes all the way around the person’s head and acts as a representation of fluidity since it would constantly be dangling and moving. The jewels would also signify power since they would be expensive and something only someone rich could afford. They are also a form of defense by protecting the person’s identity from the general public and ensure that they are not targeted since they are a high-profile leader.
Iteration
Some iterations I did were these drawing on Procreate of different types of balaclavas and the gloves. I first focused on creating different designs for the balaclava that showed some different horror themes. I started off with a basic design of a snake protecting some gold and I liked the snake motif so I chased the idea. I ended up creating an iteration with tons of snakes wrapping around the mask, I felt it would be very interesting to make the mask skin colored so it would look like I’m putting on someone’s skin whenever I put it on. I tested out some different methods of wrapping the snakes around the face and ways they could show people who don’t adhere to covid guidelines. In the end, I felt that two snake wrapping around the forehead, over the bridge of the nose, and around the neck would be the best design. The tails of the snakes wrap around the neck, cross, and dangle like a necklace.
I also sketched out my partner’s and my idea for her part of the project. We decided to create a pair of gloves out of surgical gloves that would represent health-care workers who work to keep us safe. I crocheted some wings for the top of the gloves so we could maintain a uniform theme with our projects. The wings are part of the design of the snakes that wrap around her gloves and a rod which is representative of the Rod of Ascelpius, the god of medicine. While our snake motif is continued in both of our projects, they each represent different things. Disease and death in mine, and healing and medicine in my partner’s. My partner painted on both of our compositions to add designs and realism to our creations.
