Mariambibi Khan

The second piece I intend on creating is a hair pin, that resembled a fascinator. The reason for this was to grasp the idea of concealing and revealing, chastity and promiscuity. A fascinator is used as part of a hair accessory for weddings and formal functions. This allows me to explore the use of lace in a fascinator as well as the importance of material . I decided that the hydrangeas can be used to hide the rigidness of the frame and compliment the lace by providing an organic element. The hydrangeas allow for a more distinctive, resemblance to a fascinator.

Mariambibi Khan. 2015. Hydrangea & Lace. Fine Silver & Sterling Silver.

Mariambibi Khan. 2015. Hydrangea & Lace set up. Fine Silver & Sterling Silver.

Mariambibi Khan. 2015. Hydrangea & Lace set up 2. Fine Silver & Sterling Silver.

I have placed the hydrangeas in a line which would camouflage the lines created by the pin. I then cleaned the hydrangeas and polish one to see the effect created on the lace. In comparison to the polished hydrangea the lace began to be overpowered by the high reflection of silver.

Mariambibi Khan. 2015. Hydrangea polished & Lace. Fine Silver & Sterling Silver.

The amount of hydrangeas on the piece of lace began to overpower it by appearing flat and losing its attractiveness. I was advised to add another layer to the bottom lace to allow for the lace to stand out and create the complexity that was desired.

Mariambibi Khan. 2015. Polished Hydrangea & Double Layer Lace. Fine Silver & Sterling Silver.

Mariambibi Khan. 2015. Unpolished Hydrangea & Double Layer Lace. Fine Silver & Sterling Silver.

Once the complexity was regained I began creating the components for the piece. The hydrangeas could no longer lay flat and in a row due to the second layer of lace. Therefore they were placed in the centre to provide more support for the piece as well as to protect the lace from interference. I wrapped wire around the smaller lace structure to allow for better soldering as well as support and I spot solder the hydrangeas in the position required before I added it to the lace.

Mariambibi Khan. 2015. Hair Pin. Sterling Silver.

Mariambibi Khan. 2015. Lace with back plate. Fine Silver & Sterling Silver.

Mariambibi Khan. 2015. Lace with wire wrapped frame. Fine Silver & Sterling Silver.

Mariambibi Khan. 2015. Double Layer Lace. Fine Silver & Sterling Silver.

Mariambibi Khan. 2015. Soldered Hydrangea. Fine Silver & Sterling Silver.

Once all the components were soldered together I decided on oxidizing the hydrangeas. The first coat of black was not very strong so I left the piece longer in the Jik, to enhance the black colour on the metal.

Mariambibi Khan. 2015. Hair pin in Jik 1. Fine Silver & Sterling Silver

Mariambibi Khan. 2015. Hair pin in coat 1. Fine Silver & Sterling Silver

These are the hydrangeas with a deeper black colour. Stacey Le Roux assisted me by wearing the piece to enhance its durability and style.

Mariambibi Khan. 2015. Hair pin with darker coat. Fine Silver & Sterling Silver

Mariambibi Khan. 2015. Stacey Le Roux with darker Hair pin. Fine Silver & Sterling Silver

I began to feel that the dark black was too heavy for the white lace so I brushed out some portions to allow the silver to show. Cailin Els assisted me by wearing the finished piece.

Mariambibi Khan. 2015. Hair pin finished piece. Fine Silver & Sterling Silver

Mariambibi Khan. 2015. Cailin Els with finished Hair pin piece. Fine Silver & Sterling Silver

Mariambibi Khan. 2015. Hair pin finished piece. Fine Silver & Sterling Silver

The Hairpin proved challenging on Rhino due to the organic shapes of flowers. When I bent the petals to allow for the representation of the hydrangeas, it began to distort and the file became too big to be able to bend it.

Mariambibi Khan. 2015. Hair Pin. Rhino CAD

The aim of my first assignment is to create a high end contemporary piece. The techniques and workmanship put into a strip of metal bobbin lace, fall as contemporary. Therefore, as advised by my supervisor and co-supervisor, the use of the hydrangea’s are unnecessary. I was advised to focus on the simple 3 dimensional forms the lace could transform into instead of the interpretation of the hydrangea itself. The bobbin lace technique allows for the representation of the hydrangea sufficiently, therefore a literal interpretation is unnecessary. However, instead of setting it aside completely, I decided to incorporate it in the high end commercial piece, which will be discussed in my next post.

Mariambibi Khan, 2015. Ring Concept 1. Pencil Sketch.

I played with the rounded wire frame and manipulated the lace matrix to form a donut shape, however I turned the ends out at the center, to cover up the harsh line of the frame. In its own form it looked like a flower.

Mariambibi Khan. 2015. Flower lace 1. Fine Silver

Once this shape was created, it held enough complexity to stand as a simple ring, however I felt that it was too simple, so I incorporate the two together in one ring.

Mariambibi Khan, 2015. Ring Concept 2. Pencil Sketch.

Mariambibi Khan, 2015. Ring Concept 3. Pencil Sketch.

Mariambibi Khan, 2015. Ring Concept 4. Pencil Sketch.

Mariambibi Khan. 2015. Flower lace 1 & 2 with metal hydrangea. Fine Silver

Mariambibi Khan. 2015. Flower lace 1 & 2 in ring form. Fine Silver

Mariambibi Khan. 2015. Flower lace 1 & 2 in ring form on hand. Fine Silver

The shank will be twisted to incorporate the feel of lace wire and to eliminate the harsh lines of a normal shank. I have soldered the lace flower to the shank by soldering. I added a wire connecting the flower to the shank for extra support.

Mariambibi Khan. 2015. Flower lace 1 & 2 in ring form. Fine Silver

Mariambibi Khan. 2015. Flower lace 1 & 2 in ring form with wire support. Fine Silver

Once everything was solder together to form the complete ring, I polished the shank and left the lace white.

Mariambibi Khan. 2015. Flower lace ring. Fine Silver

Below are the Rhino Cad screenshots of the ring. Timothy Bull assisted in showing me how to create the ring on CAD. I do not have the rendering tool therefore I could not render my ring. I have added the image of Timothy Bull's CAD Rendering.