WonKy Brief: To make a series of prints which play on scale and highlight the beauty in ‘Wonky’ fruit and vegetables Process: I did thorough research into artists and wonky produce, before sketching. I then paper cut the compositions before using Photoshop to turn them into screen print positives. Outcomes: Twenty A7, two A3 and one A1 screen prints Reflections: This was my solution to the way I felt about the Eesti prints, as I really liked their visual feel, but wanted something more accessible. I found the process of primary and secondary research really useful, as I found a lot of statistics, and some beautiful imagery. One of the most important ideas was the colour dispersion, which is a big reason why produce was labelled wonky, but I thought it made them more unique and interesting to look at. I found it interesting that lots of people had discarded the ‘non wonky’ items at the ‘wonky’ stand, which highlights people would happily get wonky produce, but don’t necessarily know about it until they see it. I also found it valuable to look at the work of We Are Out of Office, and how their funky colours and patterns add so much character to their work. I found investing a lot of time into research really helped me with this project.
Megan Ojari || LAUIL603 || WonKy
The exhaustive sketching I engaged with really taught me a lot about how to understand and communicate form, especially when it is different to the norm. I was feeling really confident in my new process of working, through paper cut, scans and screen printing, so it was a really effective way for me to develop these prints, with most of the designing happening during the cutting stages. I also found that I prefer my lines when the blade is slightly more blunt. I spent a fair amount of time asking for feedback on my colours and compositions, meaning I made many small tweaks from the paper cuts to the screen print positives, but this made them all stronger images. I have learnt a lot in this project about asking for feedback and trusting both what people say and my intuition. Something I struggled with was depicting the more simplistic shapes, such as the banana, as I felt it was quite boring. However, through reworking it and adding elements of pattern making, it came to be a strong composition. This was such a fun project, as it was really informed, and very process heavy, which I realise is how I like to work.
Megan Ojari || LAUIL603 || WonKy
Throughout the development stage I really learnt loads. I discovered my boldness, and understood where the confidence in my work comes from. I stopped trying to force my images to be realistic and complex, and just made images that I thought worked best. Over this time I created many potential finals, which I discarded quickly, and generated more. In the end I made a set of compositions which really embodied the beauty of the wonky produce. Due to personal reasons, I wasn’t able to give as much energy or time to the outcomes as I would have liked. However, due to effective timetabling I had enough of a cushion so that I wasn’t stressed. This was a good lesson in allowing space for mental well-being, and stepping away from my work when necessary.
Megan Ojari || LAUIL603 || WonKy
Following the observations from Josef Frank’s work, I’ve been able to use the colour to draw attention to different areas, and make a dynamic composition. The colour choice was very bold and strong, I really love the colours I chose, and think they embody me as a practitioner. Overall, the prints really show off my aim of making evident the beauty in wonky produce. In addition, We Are Out Of Office and Match Bloc really influenced me in the composition and colour management- keep an eye out for different practitioners I like Some things which I would have changed had I had time were that the background of the A1 print is slightly patchy, from using the big arm in the print room, but I was getting used to it by the end, and the slight imperfections add to the character of the piece. I also could have blown up the small bean print to make the A3 more visceral, and could have included elements of pattern making. I found the quick mock-ups I made help give potential context to how the imagery could work as part of branding or campaign for celebrating the beauty of wonky produce. Overall, I’m really pleased that they show the diversity and beauty of the wonky produce, and I’ve had so much fun playing with processes, and feel like I’ve found the one which really suits me. Also, I’ve loved experimenting with scale, and how this effects images.
Megan Ojari || LAUIL603 || WonKy