bits of the project

The Museum of Childhood in Bethnal Green is an amazing museum. I spent 3 hours there, looking at toys from the current day to way back. Definately worth paying a visit.





In the Museum of Childhood there was a series of cases which displayed artifacts from three London families. Each case built up a picture of the family over three generations. I was struck by the case of the Jalal family, as their possessions symbolised the struggle of an Asian family living in London in the 80's. Their case was full of indoor games & toys, indoor games were significant to their lives during the 80's because they were unable to play outside due to fear of racist attacks.




This is the Jalal Family, Parvin was once the little girl isolated from the world because of racism.




I have chosen to pursue my project n this doll as the quote it was labelled with really got me, it evokes so much sadness.



I have only included a few pages from my sketchbook which i felt were significant in my development of this project. I looked at the artist Sara Fanelli as her work encompasses a childlike feel and my project dealt with voicing a childhood experience.



I was inspired by how powerfully these dolls communicated a message in such a simple and basic way - hand stitch.



These are my doodles for a hand stitched piece, playing with different sizes and typefaces.



I went through a few designs for a doll and finally settled on this one.




So here it is, after raiding my housemates wool, cutting up a tshirt (for the fabric), and 6 hours of spotify my doll is made.



I photographed my doll in an isolated state to evoke the sadness of having to remain indoors. I blurred the edge to give a dream like feel to reinforce how i have manifested a memory from nearly 30 years ago.