Most patterns have taken a long journey through centuries, continents, countries and cultures. All the while changing in appearance a little and in meaning quite a lot.
For mydegree project I selected seven patterns I wanted to explore the history and hidden meanings of. I already knew from my work on textiles during my term at Glasgow School of Art that certain patterns have taken quite an interesting journey through cultures and centuries, so I was curious to find out more.
What also intrigued me was the fact that most people don’t even realise that patterns are more than decoration and almost never used randomly. Subconsciously, most patterns convey the feeling of a certain epoch or culture or region. So let’s pull these feelings out of the subconscious and delve into Eurasian history!
The seven patterns that I chose to study are animal prints, polka dots, stripes, tartan, paisley, pomegranate pattern and seikai waves.
The final work consists of the book, which explains how patterned textiles are created and explores the journey of seven textile patterns, a collection of sample cards for which I wove, embroidered, printed and crocheted textile squares, the documentation of the creative process and a felt bag to hold it all together.
“The colour tells the mindset, the pattern the lifestyle of a man.” — J. W. von Goethe
