The Life and Opinions of Malcolm Fife, Gentleman
In the past I had intended this blog to showcase my artwork and my portfolio. Now that I have returned, after a break of several years, it still will continue to do so, however, my art will take a backseat to more general musings on art, history, art history, literature, film, vintage fashion, music, or whatever topic has absorbed my interest for the time being.
Malcolm Mathison Fife
As with “The Tweed Coat“, this is more of a portrait of my clothing than of me.
For comparison, here are the original items of clothing:
The composition is based on Johannes Vermeer‘s “The Lacemaker“.
This series of prints was the first exploration into my current body of work. They are a combination of layered drypoints and screenprints.
Fast fashion is usually only seen for its inexpensive fashionable appearance while the toll on garment workers and the planet is ignored. Not only is there a huge environmental impact in the production of the raw materials and the garment itself, this impact is compounded by the throwaway cycles or practices encouraged by the fashion industry.
Investigate these impacts through these links:
https://wearzeitgeist.com/fashion-sustainability-ethics/fast-fashion-statistics
https://cleanclothes.org/fashions-problems/waste-and-pollution
https://blogs.iu.edu/sciu/2020/08/29/the-highest-price-of-fashion/
These prints were the inspiration for my ceramic tiles of t-shirts.
Clothing has become disconnected from its creation and who made it. Do you know who made the clothes you are wearing now? We need to put the human element back into the creation of clothing.
This series of terracotta tiles with maiolica overglaze painting honors the makers of clothing. The tiles represent vintage clothing labels acknowledging the individuals or unions that created the garments. The labels date from between 1900 to the 1970s.
Interspersed with the labels are tiles representing t-shirts. I chose to render them in maiolica to draw a contrast between the permanence of the tiles and the ephemeral nature of fast fashion.
Several of the tiles I reinterpreted as screenprints:
Here are the original labels:
One strand of my recent body of work relates to the mending of clothes. This series is made up of ceramic tiles, silkscreen prints, and mixed media paintings.
The first in the series is a group of terracotta tiles with maiolica overglaze painting. The installation is rendered entirely in blue to reference history of Delft maiolica tiles. The blue also suits the denim fabric.
The maiolica tiles bespeak permanence since maiolica can last for hundreds of years. Several of the tiles have been broken and mended, thus adding another layer of mending.
The images in this series are based on an antique pair of Washington Dee-Cee overalls in my collection. The overalls have been mended multiple times over their long working life.
Ironically, this same brand of overalls has recently been revamped as a high-end Italian designer line aimed at women.
I have been experimenting with mixed media in this series. The prints of visible mending have small rectangles of fabric sewn to the actual paper of the print while the paintings have a layer of embroidery.
I have carried this mixed media experimentation to the extreme by stretching fabric from a pair of my uncle’s jeans as though it was a canvas. The jeans were mended by my grandmother, an expert mender. Incidentally, in the 1970s she was employed sewing funerary clothes for the dead.
This painting is more of a portrait of the clothing than it is of me.
Its composition is based on a self portrait by Sir William Orpen.
Self Portrait (ca. 1910) Sir William Orpen
The Harris tweed coat was made in 1949. It would have some tales to tell if it could speak.
My father wore this coat when he was my age and now I have taken it over. Harris tweed is the most resilient fabric I have ever encountered. The tweed has remained as sturdy as it was the day it was made; however, the other parts of the coat (notably the lining) have shown signs of wear. I have had to replace multiple buttons and resew the buttonholes several times.
By the way, I based one of the maiolica tiles on the union label from this coat.
All four drawings.
Planar analysis drawing. Conte crayon. 2019.
Contour line drawing. Conte crayon. 18 x 24. 2019.
Value drawing no.1. Conte crayon. 18 x 24. 2019.
Value drawing no. 2. Conte crayon. 18 x 24. 2019.
I do not think that I have drawn many self-portraits in hats. That is something I hope to remedy with these two portraits here: one in a homburg and one in a pancake cap.
Black and white charcoal on toned paper. 9 in. x 12 in. 2019.
Black and white charcoal on toned paper. 9 in. x 12 in. 2019.
Portrait of My Father. Pen and ink. 17 in. x 22 in. 2018.
Detail.
Detail.
Detail.
Detail.
Graphite on paper. 18 in x 24 in.
Pen and ink. 8 1/2 in. x 11 in. 2018.
Black and white charcoal on toned paper. 9 in. x 12 in. 2019.
Black and white charcoal on toned paper. 9 in. x 12 in. 2019.
In addition to drawing, I also write verse to pass the time. So far people have liked the poems that I have showed them, so now I will share some of them (the poems I mean) with you. I hope you will enjoy them.
Designed more than one hundred years ago,
A steady drip of water to make gas
To help the blackened miners down below.
A rusty relic now, its time is passed.
I have three carbide lamps upon my desk.
Three brothers of a long forgotten breed,
Who aided men who worked in mines or caves
And gave them safety on their darkest days.
I feel that it is an important task
To preserve the things we once did need,
Though people now use new electric light.
Each region of the night is brightly lit.
Though burning brightly now, yes very bright,
Has anyone considered it may quit?
My mother, my father, and I
Used to pass time by
When stuck at a light that was red
Make words from the car just ahead.
“RBL,” the licence plate said,
“Rebel,” said Todd before scratching his head.
“Wait,” said I, “I was going to say
That that word ought to be Rabelais!”
“GJW,” the licence plate read,
“George John Washington,” my mother said.
“Washington, really? You’re goofy,” said I,
“Wait just a minute and let me just try.”
I pondered and pondered, and just could not think
Of anything…
…and I still can’t think!
The noble necktie first appeared
To cover that which men most feared;
It was scandal for someone who
Appeared abroad, shirtfront in view.
Who could guess that some neckties would
For a short time be wrought of wood?
Horace Walpole, for a lark,
Had his necktie made out of bark!
1900 had the fashion
For which I have an adoring passion!
Long and thin or short and wide.
That was all, and none pre-tied!
The neckties now are fairly botched,
For they accentuate the wearer’s crotch!
To-day’s fashion is a dump,
As is shown by Donald Trump!
I heard a cricket through the storm.
Its chirping, to me, seemed quite plain,
Through the crashing of the thunder
And also splashing of the rain.
Quite dry and safe inside was I,
Reclining comfortably in bed.
While in the cold the cricket stayed,
On cushions I reclined my head.
Kingdom of Fife 