We’re continuing our series of features focusing on our talented and creative 3Doodler Community members. From hobbyists to professionals, these Doodlers have taken their imagination off the page and into the world around them to create incredible bodies of work.
“My first attempt at Doodling was almost accidental,” says Ilma Bushra Wasty. The 28-year-old recently completed her MA in Interior and Spatial Design at the Chelsea College of Art at the University of Arts in London.
Ilma recently finished a large-scale mixed-media project for her MA in interior and spatial design, combining the delicacy of Doodled pieces with industrial concrete. Her final project, titled Revealing the Pattern, combined delicate patterns made with the 3Doodler and concrete rocks, steps and tiles.
"Like the pen or pencil, the 3Doodler was a new tool to draw and express." Share
“I got my 3Doodler when I came to the UK for my masters,” says Ilma, who is originally from Pakistan. “I had intended to use it for recreational purposes.”
But in the first unit of her masters program, Ilma explored new concepts and mediums. “Like the pen or pencil, the 3Doodler was a new tool to draw and express,” she says. “I do not view the 3Doodler as one art form, but rather as a tool which can be customized according to needs.”
“The first thing I Doodled was tracing out a small cup. This was not very successful, as it was my first attempt,” she admits.
But Ilma improved quickly, and found that skills she had gained as a child helped her when controlling a 3D printing pen. “The 3Doodler for me is a drawing tool, which allows me to draw a pattern that is 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional at the same time,” she says. “The way the plastic extrudes reminded me of henna pattern making when I was younger and I would draw patterns on other people’s hands.”
This bridge between traditional culture and modern life became the basis of Ilma’s final project in her MA. “Revealing The Pattern is inspired by old rundown buildings in interior Sindh, Pakistan,” she explains. “It had stemmed from a desire to develop a personal spatial expression rooted in culture.”
For this project, Ilma wanted to make craftsmanship a key feature of the final installation. “I used the 3Doodler to highlight the importance of hand craft and a contemporary interpretation of a very traditional craft from the Islamic patterned tiles,” she says.
“These tiles are proposed for an outdoor environment, where the cement has the opportunity to weather like at the seaside,” explains Ilma. “The pattern, therefore, reveals over time rather than being immediately visible.”
It’s this same sense of patience that Ilma says is the key to working with the 3Doodler. “Patience goes a long way,” she says, “but the beauty is also in the mistake. Doodles do not need to be perfect. Each mistake makes the particular object unique and beautiful.”