Project 2 Brainstorm

This project was inspired by traditional Kashmiri rug designs present in my grandparents house in Jammu. I have become fascinated by a particular motif. As it is surrounded by botanical motifs on a traditional rug design, I believe it is a flower of some sort. However, I am unsure what it represents, and have yet to find an answer. This emphasizes the fading connection to my heritage that I am desperately trying to preserve. Since I do not know what the motif represents, I thought it would be interesting to interpret it in a fantastical sense. Initial ideas took the form of a tree or shrub with the motif as a fruit. I think it will be cool to incorporate it with ideas of memory and have branching tendrils that reference the dendritic regions of a neuron, or create a neuron with the motif on the ends of each dendrite. I also thought of the fanned edges as having eyes on each end. The reinterpretation of a traditional motif based on limited knowledge of how it functions in its environment, or what its environment even is will be a curious exploration into my culture. Past work with this motif includes making a 2-D model of it in Rhino, which I then transferred into Adobe Illustrator to laser cut into paper. This was imprinted onto copper metal for my Metal Smithing class. I am excited to make this creature in Blender and explore its form further. There is also a 3-D printer in the Metal Shop in the VAC that I will be learning how to use in order to print various versions of my creature, that could possibly be included in my Honors Thesis installation.