ASK:

Create a custom 18' x 11' foot backdrop for the Sun Ra Arkestra performances at the Portland Art Museum and the Hollywood Theatre.

PROCESS:

PGF's owner/designer-in-chief created the concept and sketched out the design idea and planned a swatch sheet. I then "drew" the eye in Optitex and then cut it into the various shapes needed to achieve the effect indicated by the sketches and swatches.

CHALLENGES:

Fabric was somewhat limited, so I needed to make some changes to the pattern in order to make the most of the fabric that we had available. Also, the pupil of the eye is semi-spherical, and achieving that shape on a free-hanging sculpture without it flopping down or looking like a pillow presented its own set of challenges. We did a lot of testing and prototyping at a smaller size until we perfected the shape and then scaled it up to full size.