Degree Show Review
AlwaysAllwaysland 2014
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| Stephanie Lawton's Degree Show Work |
Stephanie's work focuses on elaborate detail and intricate patterns, as an aspiring surface pattern designer, her work feels the right balance of mixing traditional with contemporary. Her work is a combination of both hand drawn and digitally drawn elements to create patterns, 'which have a very graphic and illustrative feel'. She draws her inspiration from modern technology and is interested in incorporating it into textiles and interiors which I think is clear within her work. The context for Stephanie's work is bespoke, flexible enough to be applied to a range of outputs.
When I first walked past Stephanie's work, I found myself automatically drawn to look closer. I thought the presentation of her work was perfect, and showed it off to the best ability. I chose to write about her work as next year I would like my work to mimic hers visually. Furthermore, I would also like my work to parallel hers in terms of attention to detail. I was drawn towards her work because of the intricacy of the patterns. It reminded me of how much I enjoy to work using intricate details on a small scale. Looking at her work was thought provoking, and I came away with new ideas about how to use layers and scale within my own weaving practice.
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| Emily Otchie's Degree Show Work |
Over the past year my work has been slowly working its way towards a fashion/ accessories based context, and so I thought it only right to choose someone working in a similar direction. However I am not interested in the garment making itself, I am only interested in the designing and making of the fabrics to hopefully be used for luxurious and high end clothing. Emily's vibrant work has been influenced by a 'fusion of cultural influences'. Her work really exudes lots of energy and colour, something which is important to my own work. Her yarn choices and design of the garments, demonstrate a juxtaposition between urban city life and traditional tribal textiles. The combination of such different ideas really helps to make her work original and unique.
I feel as if my own work relates to Emily's on a few different levels. Visually, our colour palettes are very similar, and when I read deeper into her work, I realised that we use a lot of the same research for our inspiration sources, for example, I am always drawn to vibrant cultures, and thats something I'd like to draw on for my final year work. I particularly liked Emily's brave colour choices and I felt that I understood her work before reading the text; something which I think is important.
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| Christina Hesford's Degree Show Work |
Finally, Christina's work was the one that I felt most related to my own. Christina is a hand weaver and her work is focused on her interest in broken objects such as ceramics and textiles. Her work is directed at open spaces; galleries, both public and private. Christina's key interest is in exploring 'humanity's passage on earth'. Her recent work draws on the notion that sometimes things are more beautiful for being broken and this in turn inspired her intricate woven outcomes. I particularly liked the brushing as the finishing process, which was a means of breaking down material surfaces which I thought related clearly to her concept.
Furthermore, Christina's work has inspired my own in many more ways. I thought that her work looked so professional. Her presentation was thorough, and the attention to detail was second to none. Looking further, I found her website to reflect her work perfectly and she takes such care over her work; the quality is just amazing. I loved her yarn choices for all of her samples. The pick up technique Christina used was also really interesting and I'd like to consider doing something similar with my own weaving. The subtle colour choices give her fabrics a luxurious feel. In addition, I was amazed at how much care was taken during the dying process and I will definitely have to get in touch to find out how she created such a beautiful tonal colour!
http://www.christinahesford.com
