- · The Glasgow School of Art and Royal Museums Greenwich collaborate on coronavirus lockdown project
- · Students design ruffs made from paper, plants and even pizza!
Designs by first year GSA Silversmithing & Jewellery students Claire Frith (@cfrithjewellery) and Emily McGeary
The celebrated Armada Portrait in the Queen’s House (© National Maritime Museum, London)
which inspired them.
The times may be rough, but that hasn’t stopped Glasgow School of Art Silversmithing & Jewellery students showing their creativity. In a partnership with The Queen’s House, part of Royal Museums Greenwich, first-year students were asked to respond to the celebrated Armada Portrait of Elizabeth I and to create a ruff with whatever materials were to hand in lockdown. The results are spectacular. From magazines to straws, Q-tips, plants and even a pizza the students have brought a modern twist to an iconic, historic image.
This is the second collaboration between the team at The Glasgow School of Art and The Queen’s House following on Splendour last year.
“We enjoyed working with the Glasgow School of Art so much in 2019 that we wanted to get them involved in our latest project,” says Matilda Pye, curator at The Queen’s House. “We are delighted to kick-start our first Royal Museums Greenwich, Armada Portrait, quarantine challenge: to make a ruff with whatever you have around you and share the results online, with these brilliant students.”
“The Glasgow School of Art is an extraordinary toolbox for making, design and innovation but its soul lies in its talented staff and students. When planning the project we were conscious that students were away from their amazing workshops, and access to their chosen materials. But we knew they had the skills to adapt and manipulate whatever was around them, to wear it, share it and tells stories. The results are fantastic.”
“The Ruff Challenge has been a great way to connect with our students during these challenging times,” says Anna Gordon, Head of Silversmithing & Jewellery at The Glasgow School of Art. “There is a lot of uncertainty about the immediate future and engaging with this project has really given students the opportunity to use their imagination and have some fun!”
“ It is a real privilege to work again with Matty Pye at the Queen’s House. Both Matty and the staff team in Silversmithing and Jewellery have been really impressed by the ingenuity and resourcefulness demonstrated by the students, who created these pieces in only one week.”
|
| Saipranathi Sreeram’s honeybee inspired ruff |
Saipranathi Sreeram’s ruff, made from university prospectuses and thin copper sheets, was inspired by honeybees and their hives, with the significance of the role played by the queen bee.
“Looking at the Armada Portrait, I noticed that the Queen was portrayed holding the entire globe in her hand, to maybe display her worth and prowess as a queen. But looking at her face, it occurred to me that all these symbols of wealth and strength were used to display her power but her face remained oddly passive. Hence, I decided to make a ruff that would frame the eye of the wearer in a way that would enunciate their expression,” says Saipranathi.
“Honeybee hives are an excellent metaphor in regards to the Queen and her influences on a nation, with the Queen being referred to as the ‘mother’ and the Queen Bee, quite literally being the mother of the bees in the hive. So, I decided to play with these connections to inspire the design of the ruff,” she adds
Food in lock down inspired Eva Gabor.
|
| Eva Gabor (@vicagabor) with their lockdown food inspired ruff |
“My idea was to make something that represents our current situation,” says Eva. “Being isolated cleaning and baking became a ritual for me. I thought of making a pizzas as a ruff would be funny, but with staging the image I was also trying to show sorrow and loneliness too.”
|
| Emily McGreary’s father modelling her ruff |
Emily McGreary got her dad involved in the project
“As someone who is really interested in old period fashion/history, I knew that I really wanted to emphasise this through my piece and the photos,” says Emily McGreary. “I wanted to involve my dad who was keenly up for a photo shoot and putting some makeup on.”
“I used whatever I could find around the house that gave me the effect I was looking for, such as old velvet material from a chair that we had previously upholstered and an old lampshade fitting which I sewed to my desired shape. After fitting it on my dad, I added some socks to the ruff to give it a stuffed look along with some bubble wrap to give the traditional shape around the edge.”
I feel the photos give the illusion of his head floating or maybe that it was on a plate! When staging my dad for the photos, I was heavily inspired by paintings from the likes of Caravaggio and Rembrandt with the chiaroscuro effect that they have throughout their work. I wanted my dad to look as spooky and painting-like as possible with his bright face against the dark black background.
Being playful with the materials and not thinking too much about how precious it looked was refreshing and fun which is what making is all about!”
|
| Claire Frith’s ruff made from items that were going to be thrown away |
“Inspired by The Royal Greenwich Armada Portrait, of Queen Elizabeth I, I wanted to create something big and striking with height to create the same grand ornate feeling of the portrait,” says Claire Frith. “I was really drawn to the way the ruff seems to separate her body from her face as if they are two separate entities. This illuminated her face in an ethereal fashion which I tried to emulate with my creation. The pearl adornments and the traditional white material on the inside layer of my ruff were used to keep the moonlike shape and colour, this symbolised Diana the goddess of the moon.”
“Tasked with using materials that surround us to create our ruff. I tried to use things that were being thrown out; leaves, protective packaging foam, cardboard, staples, thread,” she adds.
See all the student designs on Instagram
#armadaportrait #ruffchallenge @royalmusemsgreenwich @silversmithingandjewellery
For further information and high resolution images of the student designs contact:
For press image of the Armada Portrait please contact the press office at the Royal Museums Greenwich:
press@rmg.co.uk
press@rmg.co.uk