Prints on Fabric
After creating the emulsion lifts and experimenting with the folds of the film, I began to wonder if the folds and ‘floaty’ nature of the emulsion lift would transfer to fabric.
I used the original scans of the polaroid and cropped it down till there was only the image left. I then made sure the images suited the specifications from the Digital Print Suite and took them down to be printed onto fabric.
I decided to try in on cotton first because they were just samples and it was the cheapest and easiest to manipulate post print. The material I used was a disperse cotton blend.
Wanting to get the effects of folding similar to the emulsion lifts, I researched the best way to stiffen and manipulate fabric.
The two methods I found were using watered down PVA glue or using Starch spray. I found that the best and easiest method was using the starch spray. I saturated the fabric in Starch spray, manipulated the material till I was happy with the effect and left them to dry overnight.
However, the test pieces did not portray the ‘floaty’ natured folds as well as I had hoped. If I were to go bigger, I think that they would be more effective. Yet I am hesitant to go bigger because I don’t want to lose the intimacy of the hand-held image or sculpture.
I also think that silk would be a more effective material to experiment with, but for now, I am going to stick to the emulsion lifts before I move onto anything else.