Student Creative: Ellie Jones

I am­ an MA Illustration student and I am very grateful for the opportunity of working with the MoDiP collection. What first drew my interest was the collection of old photographs from British factories, they are mostly black and white and show an age when plastics became really popular – the 70s, which actually isn’t really that long ago. The people photographed seem full of personality and you can see what era it was by how they have styled their hair and clothing. I feel a personal connection to those people too, as my mother worked in a factory at that time.

Shrink-wrapping with Polyethylene film
I went to the museum to do some preliminary sketches to gather further ideas and to immerse myself in the museum collection. I found that I was captivated by the transparent clock, and the cicada brooches.
Coloured pencil sketch of three cicada brooches designed by Pat Thornton
Coloured pencil sketch of the translucent clockwork alarm clock
These objects made me think about the layering in plastics. Plastics can be transparent, revealing the workings of machines underneath, and it can be translucent with other colours in it which is beautiful.
So, I’ve been exploring both the photographic elements and transparency/layering in my work, using tracing paper, acetate and paper cutting.
Photograph print depicting dip coating polyethylene cut out with watercolour pattern behind. Layered cicada. Ink on layers of tracing paper.
I am going to continue exploring these ideas, and I look forward to seeing where it will lead me!
Student Creative Ellie Jones - MA Illustration