2D Fabrication
Gigi, Chloe, and I collaborated on making a 3D opal structure. This project involved using Procreate, Adobe Illustrator, lighting, Video work, and help from our awesome studio fellows. Cece and Adella! Thank you for fielding our many questions! The image above represents our initial inspiration for the project.
Then I exported the Procreate files to Adobe Illustrator, and we turned them into cuts or engravings using the Trace Image tool. One aspect that helped us understand everyone's idea and make a cohesive design was using paper mockups. Gigi created one to explain her idea behind the process, and Chloe made one with multiple layers as we talked things through together.
One issue in printing was that my file size was not the same as the printer in Procreate or in Adobe Illustrator. So we had to resize everything and change the line thickness. There were also some cases where there were no issues with our files, and bubbles didn't want to work. So we just had to redo our work.
In the end, we decided not to glue on the top piece after getting opinions from various people. We liked that we could see how light affected each version differently, so we made it a piece you can put on and take off.
Finally, Gigi and I were very excited to use light in photographing our project, origionally we wanted to use Optical Calcite in this project, since Gigi has some but not somewhere accessible at the time. So Gigi suggested we shine different colored lights underneath it, and we wanted to capture that by video as well as photos. So this turned into a multimedia project!
Hi Jádé,
ReplyDeleteOpals are my favorite stone, so I was immediately drawn to the work. This is such an interesting concept, and I really appreciate your thoughtful documentation of the process. The different color choices and engraved details truly enhance the overall form. Your choice of material and the way you play with light are especially effective—they really mimic some of the qualities of opals.
Very well done!
Thank you!
DeleteAlso can you see the videos on my blog?
DeleteBlog post I mean.
DeleteWoah Jádé, this is awesome! you guys did an amazing job conveying the layers and light that make opals so unique and eye-catching. I would love to see a gem stone or mineral series of this process continued!
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHi Jádé, This is such a fun and thoughtful collaboration, and you can really see how all the testing and back and forth shaped the final piece! The paper mockups and material experiments feel super effective, and keeping the top removable was a great decision, especially with how the light interacts with it. It would be cool to keep pushing the lighting even further or document different lighting setups, since that already feels like a really strong part of the work.
ReplyDeleteDear Jádé,
ReplyDeleteWhen reading the project of opal, the first thing that came into my mind, as a question , was where are the limitations of dimension- in this case 2D. When I approached the topic of 2D fabrication, I was more focused on the line work and its design on a flat surface. But when looking at your work with Gigi and Chloe, layering up multiple 2D designs to form a 3d sculpture was interesting. Back to the content of the project, the work reflected well how the beauty of opal is not bound to the physical object, but more of how people connect and give meaning to it. The collaboratively created opal, in a way, could seem to hold more value than a precious jewel -rock- picked up from a store display.
Thank you for sharing.