Wavey Paper

  

I really liked the work I saw by Richard Sweeney with the pleates that created a flowing curve in the paper. It worked really well with the idea of wave shapes that i was looking at. Richard showed me how he had created this models and i had a go my self. I found it really interesting as the curves are made from purely straight lines. I experimented using different size papers and different size pleats. I also tried using paper that was already cut into a curve to see how this would effect the shape.

The above images show one piece manipulated to appear in different forms.

These three images are using a thinner long strip of paper.

This is using the same piece of paper but twisting the structure round so that both ends connected and formed a sort of knot.

This structure was using a piece of paper already cut into a curve before it was pleated. I really like the shapes and forms that could be made with this idea.

With this piece i used the same idea of pleating and already curved paper but i tried to change the direction of the pleates in certain places. It made a more jagged and less fluent shape than the smooth flowing previous shapes i had made.

Structural forms: Arches

After experimenting with paper and making an arch like structure i decided to do some research into arches in architectural structures. These are a few of the images i found showing a variation of both new and old structures. All the images i have chosen have similar features to the woven paper arch i made.

Natural forms: Waves

These are a few images of waves i found on the internet that i thought had really interesting shapes and forms within them. I will try to do some drawings from these images that will help me interperate the shapes within them into paper forms.

Richard Sweeney

I had a look at some of Sweeney's work and was amazed by the forms he has created. It inspired me to push myself and experiment with more intricate and complex forms.

I picked out a few pieces that really caught my eye.

I love the curves in this piece and how it flows so naturally. It imitates the form of a wave in a completly different way to the structure i made.

I really like these pieces i think they would look really good as lamp shades.

Initial Experimentation

I started off by experimenting with how i could manipulate the paper, mainly using a scalpel to cut and score the paper to create tabs and folds.

I firstly made this simple piece using a scalpel to cut small tab holes. I then bent a strip of paper alternatly to each side. I tried to vary the length of the strips so each loop wouldn't become the same size. This stopped the piece looking semetrical.

The second piece i made using a kind of weaving technique. It created a shape that reminded me firstly of a straw basket. At a closer look it started to remind me of a built structure such as and arch or building. I will look further into unusual shaped buildings and how i could take inspiration from these shapes in my work.

I then created a piece using different length strips each creating a loop. When produced in a sequence along one piece of paper this technique appears to curve across the page like a wave. This made me want to research into natural forms that create intresting repeating shapes.

I tried to photograph the pieces from different angles using good lighting that created shadows and showed the form of the pieces well.
 I really liked this piece and decided to expand on it further.

I used the same technique but made the slots vertical to the strip as apposed to horizontal as before. This gave a twist to each strip as it went round into a loop. The smallest strips wer to small to make into a loop but i like the effect it has created it looks even more like a wave.

I then played about with these to pieces twisting and curving them into different shapes. I found they looked good pulled round into a circle with both ends touching. I had to figure out a way of connecting both ends without using any sort of adhesive. I experimented with a few ways and found that if the first strip and the last strip of the page were at the same height on the page and over lapped when the page was pulled round into a circle then they could go through the same slot...therefore keeping the paper in place.