“LIQUID GOLD”
A work of Wearable Art in collaboration with Becky Bodurtha and Liam Faye of Stanford University. March 2023.
Moodboarding
My process began with some simple moodboarding (left) I collected of various interesting textures, materials, silhouettes, and themes I wanted to incorporate into the final design. I really wanted to find new ways to create natural textures like honey and honeycomb into our design, and found ways to acheive the effect with smocking, 3D printing, and lasercutting.
Sketching
After discussing with the group, we went with the bee theme and landed on our first iteration, all in gold. I created a sketch (right) on Procreate, researching and documenting various materials and techniques we could experiment with for our piece. I added these notes into the sketch to demonstrate the feasibility of the techniques- and like any good first iteration, much was reworked for the final product.
My process began with some simple moodboarding (left) I collected of various interesting textures, materials, silhouettes, and themes I wanted to incorporate into the final design. I really wanted to find new ways to create natural textures like honey and honeycomb into our design, and found ways to acheive the effect with smocking, 3D printing, and lasercutting.
Sketching
After discussing with the group, we went with the bee theme and landed on our first iteration, all in gold. I created a sketch (right) on Procreate, researching and documenting various materials and techniques we could experiment with for our piece. I added these notes into the sketch to demonstrate the feasibility of the techniques- and like any good first iteration, much was reworked for the final product.
Sampling
This is my favorite part of creating wearable art- experimenting with different techniques, materials, and forms throughout the sampling process. I find it’s the time when I learn the most, even throughout many failures and some frustration. Even though many techniques didn’t make the cut, I learned how to use thermoplastics, lasercut, 3D print, fuse fabrics, smock, cast in silicon, and more.
One of the most fun parts of this process, for me, is how unexpectedly your ideas can turn out. For example, for the honey overskirt, we had a whole plan laid out- we were going to dye white fosshape a beautiful golden color, cut into our skirt, and mold into three dimensions using a steam iron. So, we did exactly that- but when it came time to add our silicon on top, it looked... aesthetically abhorrent to say the least. Having done all that, and as that was plan A-Z, some were attached to the idea- but deep down, we all knew we had to pivot.
After throwing many ideas around, I had a (admittedly) pretty insane idea. Hot glue. Now, when anyone hears this, they are reminded of desperate last minute attempts to save a project by hot gluing it together, but that’s not at all what we used it for. Instead, I used the hot glue as a thermoplastic sculpting material to simulate how honey would naturally run down. The translucent nature, the consistency, the flexibility, all worked in our favor. Our final product was a skirt made of over 200 hot glue sticks, sculpted on a trash bag over our honeycomb skirt, cycling between 3 hot glue guns at high temperature for over 8 hours, then coated in several layers of gold silicon. And yes, my trigger finger hurt.
You would never have guessed the unconventional materials that went into this project, hot glue being just one of many- and that’s what I love most about making wearable art.
This is my favorite part of creating wearable art- experimenting with different techniques, materials, and forms throughout the sampling process. I find it’s the time when I learn the most, even throughout many failures and some frustration. Even though many techniques didn’t make the cut, I learned how to use thermoplastics, lasercut, 3D print, fuse fabrics, smock, cast in silicon, and more.
One of the most fun parts of this process, for me, is how unexpectedly your ideas can turn out. For example, for the honey overskirt, we had a whole plan laid out- we were going to dye white fosshape a beautiful golden color, cut into our skirt, and mold into three dimensions using a steam iron. So, we did exactly that- but when it came time to add our silicon on top, it looked... aesthetically abhorrent to say the least. Having done all that, and as that was plan A-Z, some were attached to the idea- but deep down, we all knew we had to pivot.
After throwing many ideas around, I had a (admittedly) pretty insane idea. Hot glue. Now, when anyone hears this, they are reminded of desperate last minute attempts to save a project by hot gluing it together, but that’s not at all what we used it for. Instead, I used the hot glue as a thermoplastic sculpting material to simulate how honey would naturally run down. The translucent nature, the consistency, the flexibility, all worked in our favor. Our final product was a skirt made of over 200 hot glue sticks, sculpted on a trash bag over our honeycomb skirt, cycling between 3 hot glue guns at high temperature for over 8 hours, then coated in several layers of gold silicon. And yes, my trigger finger hurt.
You would never have guessed the unconventional materials that went into this project, hot glue being just one of many- and that’s what I love most about making wearable art.
Making it Real
Finally, making it real is by far the hardest and most rewarding part of it all. We had a ton of huge ideas, and only 10 weeks from first sketch to final product to bring it together. Shown are some of the processess which ended up making it into the final design.
Above are sustainably sourced honeybees, which I cured in UV resin, added eyes, and painted gold to match our piece. I hand sewed each bee onto the fabric, and cured onto the overlay. It was really important to me that we had real nature incorported into our design, and these details are what really made our piece stand out not just on stage, but up close as well.
Below is our liquid gold flowing from the honeycomb breast plate. After lasercutting the honeycomb out of Worbla, I shaped the plate with heat before moving onto the honey. Using hot glue, I worked my way around the piece in layers for an exaggerated honey effect. Using a two-part clear silicon with added gold and bronze pigment, we cured the entire overlay in our final honey glaze. Finally, after fitting, we added in our closures to make our art truly wearable.
All this just a glimpse into our piece, from concept to creation.
Finally, making it real is by far the hardest and most rewarding part of it all. We had a ton of huge ideas, and only 10 weeks from first sketch to final product to bring it together. Shown are some of the processess which ended up making it into the final design.
Above are sustainably sourced honeybees, which I cured in UV resin, added eyes, and painted gold to match our piece. I hand sewed each bee onto the fabric, and cured onto the overlay. It was really important to me that we had real nature incorported into our design, and these details are what really made our piece stand out not just on stage, but up close as well.
Below is our liquid gold flowing from the honeycomb breast plate. After lasercutting the honeycomb out of Worbla, I shaped the plate with heat before moving onto the honey. Using hot glue, I worked my way around the piece in layers for an exaggerated honey effect. Using a two-part clear silicon with added gold and bronze pigment, we cured the entire overlay in our final honey glaze. Finally, after fitting, we added in our closures to make our art truly wearable.
All this just a glimpse into our piece, from concept to creation.
World Of Wearable Art Showing
After three rounds of judging and much waiting, “Liquid Gold” was named a finalist in the World of Wearable Art Show in New Zealand. Over the course of two weeks, alongside entrants from across the world, our piece was shown to an audience of over 60,000 Wearable Art Enthusiasts.
Click here to watch our piece on stage, and here to see highlights from the 2023 show.
It was an honor to be able to attend the show in September and see our piece on stage. I flew out hours after completing my silversmithing training, as I couldn’t miss seeing the show. After working so hard and looking at the work for what seemed like forever, I never would have imagined how stunning it looked on stage. The show is a two hour long production, and seeing our piece on a model among so many other beautiful works really put everything into perspective for me. Above all else, I loved being able to meet and learn from other entrants in the show who gave me invaluable knowledge on Wearable Art. Even when flying into San Francisco at 8:30 am to make my first 9:30 class of the quarter, I didn’t regret a thing, knowing it was an experience I would take with me for my entire life.
This experience was probably one of the more challenging projects I’ve ever taken on, and yet, I’ve already begun working on my next piece: Ecotopia.
After three rounds of judging and much waiting, “Liquid Gold” was named a finalist in the World of Wearable Art Show in New Zealand. Over the course of two weeks, alongside entrants from across the world, our piece was shown to an audience of over 60,000 Wearable Art Enthusiasts.
Click here to watch our piece on stage, and here to see highlights from the 2023 show.
It was an honor to be able to attend the show in September and see our piece on stage. I flew out hours after completing my silversmithing training, as I couldn’t miss seeing the show. After working so hard and looking at the work for what seemed like forever, I never would have imagined how stunning it looked on stage. The show is a two hour long production, and seeing our piece on a model among so many other beautiful works really put everything into perspective for me. Above all else, I loved being able to meet and learn from other entrants in the show who gave me invaluable knowledge on Wearable Art. Even when flying into San Francisco at 8:30 am to make my first 9:30 class of the quarter, I didn’t regret a thing, knowing it was an experience I would take with me for my entire life.
This experience was probably one of the more challenging projects I’ve ever taken on, and yet, I’ve already begun working on my next piece: Ecotopia.