Jane Moy – Australia

Chaos and Order

Description

Equilibrium. My entry has been created using the two opposing forces of Chaos and Order to create a balanced headpiece. There is order in chaos and chaos in order. As opposites, chaos benefits from some form of order to stop it from completely getting out of control, and order benefitting from a chaotic effect to prevent boredom and predictability. The wired pattern in each flower and wire cover on the hat base represents Chaos. The way in which the flower petals are formed and the wire cover is attached to the base however represents Order. Each flower is unique in that the wire had been strung around a structure of randomly placed nails on a wooden board resulting in an unpredictable chaotic shape. The shape was then bought together using small pieces of wire twists to bind the chaotic shape into an abstract flower, thereby order giving it shape. The flower stamens were made in an orderly shape on a small daisy loom, secured through the centre and compliments the balanced effect making each structure into a recognizable, albeit, abstract flower. Fine wire was again utilized, this time to cover the hat block and used in a random pattern with a similar technique to that of the wire flower, looping and twisting the wire over and around randomly placed blocking pins to create a chaotic effect. The wire structure sits atop a blocked sinamay base, having been couched with invisible thread at various points stabilizing and stopping it from moving uncontrollably giving order to the wire with the appearance of unpredictability over the traditional orderly base. The final completed headpiece melds the two forces of chaos and order to create crazy, beautiful flowers and interesting patterns over the base resulting in an overall balanced effect. Chaos and Order = Equilibrium.

Materials

• 26 gauge copper coated wire in red green and gold
• Sinamay
• Brim wire
• Invisible and coloured thread
• Wooden Fez block
• Daisy loom
• Wooden board hammered randomly with nails
• Bemsilk lining

Techniques

• Use of daisy loom to work 26 gauge wire into loops, secured in centre with wire to create stamen like centre for abstract wire flower
• Using wooden board randomly nailed then flipped over to create a ‘bed of nails’ type base to which wire was then looped and wound randomly to create chaotic effect
• Chaotic wire shape lifted from ‘bed of nails’ then secured with 26 gauge wire at various points in a barb wire twist fashion to give order to the flower and form abstract petals
• Flowers stems, heavy wire wrapped in fine wire
• Three layers of Sinamay were blocked using a traditional method of steam onto Fez shaped hat block. Removed, cut to desired size, then wired by hand with 19 gauge brim wire at base
• Wire covered with bias binding stitched by hand
• Bias Sinamay strip cut, fitted to base and joined with bias join, steam and folded then onto wired base and hand stitched to create finished bias edge
• Fez shaped block covered with blocking pins around edge then randomly spaced round Fez shape block. Wire looped and wound randomly throughout block
• Traditional couching technique to affix trim to base
• Bemsilk lining attached to the base