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Exhibition & open studio: Margo Selby

Margo Selby‘All Square’ Textile Exhibition

The exhibition is being held throughout the week of the Whitstable Oyster Festival. The exhibition will be showcasing Margo Selby’s latest hand-woven pieces. Also on show will be some of their latest jacket and rug designs.

The work of guest artist Tracie Peisley will also be on view. Tracie has applied 30 years of fine art practice to making couture dresses, jackets and shirts. Describing them as ‘floral armour’, she collages a vibrant combination of vintage and designer fabrics to create art wear.

The private view drinks evening will be held in the exhibition space from 6pm-9pm on Wednesday 30th July. All visitors are welcome.

Dates: Saturday 26th July – Friday 1st August 2014

Times: 10am – 5pm

Address: Bradstowe House, 35 Middle Wall, Whitstable. Kent. CT5 1BJ
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Jessica Leigh Calvert: BCFA FR One Award

Jessica Leigh Calvert_ Textile DesignJessica Leigh Calvert was awarded the British Contract Furnishing Association One Award at New Designers in June 2014. She creates handwoven and digital fabrics for interior spaces.

Whilst studying for her BA (Hons) Textile Design at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design she was fascinated by architectural landscapes and texture where she explores these ideas, combining high contrasts within her work. Jessica’s portfolio features woven fabrics that emulate a glamorous and tactile feel. A sensual colour palette, varied textures and exquisite craftsmanship inform her distinctive style, she also experiments with weaving techniques both modern and traditional. Jessica’s collection’s are described as subtle, timelessly elegant yet evoke a contemporary edge.

IMG_8618Her final collection for her degree was entitled ‘Textured Disparity’ which takes its name and inspiration from a journey she took across Southern China. Within the collection she wanted to capture the elegance and bold presence of modern buildings and constructions juxtaposing the exquisite rural landscape. The collection is versatile and modern yet elegant; the fabrics emulate a rustic feel whilst adding a flourish of subtle glamourand also have a distance appeal and yet are detailed on closer inspection. The fabrics are an assortment of contrasting textures and patterns in a sophisticated palette with flickers of vibrant colour to fashion a strong statement. The textures and colour palette work effortlessly within an interior space.

The Judges commented that ‘We felt that Jessica’s colour was equally matched within an exceptional portfolio. We were impressed by the depth of research and transition of her vision into a commercial product.’

Jessica will have a four week internship with the design studio at FR One in Antwerp as the award prize.

Thank you to Jessica Calvert and New Designers for the photos and text.

Profile: Yangzi Wang

yangzi Wang process s-1Materiality of Fear

Yangzi Wang is a surface textile and new material designer. She completed an MA Textile/Material Futures course at  Central Saint Martins having previously graduated from BA (Hons) Textile Design, specializing in weave and print.  Now she  experiments in different ways to combine several materials together with different hand made skills, discovering new ways to produce textile related products, challenge the limits of both handmade and machine-made.

She investigated how can people materialize attraction of fear through materials?

Fear is a natural survival mechanism, an instinctive response to a potential danger which is important for the survival of all species. Yangzi is  fascinated by peoples interest in and attraction toward fearful situations. She investigates why some people more prone than others to inducing a sense of fear?

In this project she  tried to engineer a fear attraction, embedding fear within physical materials. Incorporating textures, forms and patterns commonly associated with phobias and instinctive human fear, she aims to explore the fine line between fear and attraction. Her work aims to encompass a sense of fear but also be highly seductive and alluring.Yangzi Wang1

Her designs are aimed at the celebrity or performer who wants to attract people’s attention. She has used fashion garments as a platform for gauging a reaction. Fashion for her has long since been used as a testing ground for new ideas and a stage for future fantasy.

Yangzi is setting up a studio  in Hangzhou, China, for the purpose of teaching, experimentation and technical exchange, as well as design project collaboration.
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Amy Gair: The Worshipful Company of Weavers Associate Prize

Amy Gair Woven Samples 2The Worshipful Company of Weavers Associate Prize was won by Amy Gair at New Designers exhibition in London.

Amy is from Shetland and studied a BA in Contemporary Textiles at the University of Highlands and Islands, before she progressed onto Heriot Watt’s School of Textiles and Design to complete her honours year in a BA(Hons) in Design for textiles, specialising in weave.

She graduated from Heriot Watt in June 2014 with First Class honours and won The Incorporation of Bonnetmakers and Dyers of Glasgow Prize at  her graduation for her  ‘Industrial North’ collection of dobby and jacquard woven fabrics.
Amy Gair_ New Designers copyright

Her ‘Industrial North’ Collection was focussed on Shetland and its northern identity as a remote Scottish Island. As the island is located half way between the Scottish Mainland and Norway, there are some Scandinavian influences  which ideas she  have tried to incorporate too. The collection brings together Shetland, Scandinavian design influences and traditional Scottish woven fabric qualities such as twills, herringbones and checks. She used a combination of wool, merino, lambs wool and also some Shetland wool too.

She  used her own photography and mixed media artworks to create ideas for translating into weaving which are a crucial part to her design process.Amy Gair - Sketchbook 2Amy is about to embark on a Masters in Textiles and Fashion at Glasgow School of Art and aims to work  in the UK textiles industry after graduating from this course. She eventually would like to set up her own textile label back in Shetland.

 

 

 

 

 

Website: www.brownsroadtextiles.com

Twitter: @brownsroad
Blog: amygair.wordpress.com

The Worshipful Company of Weavers

 

Photography of award event: copyright New Designers 2014.
Other photography and text: Amy Gair 2014
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Commission: Oxford Brooks University SU

SONY DSCDesigned by design company Peagreen and woven by Gainsborough Silk Weaving, the Oxford Brooks University SU Bar  has a new installation that is testament to their new purpose built development.

The tessellating shapes and disrupted visual continuation of the piece was inspired by the geometric architecture and artwork in the Victor Vasarely Museum in Aix-en-Provence. Up close the installation becomes a mirage of intricate textures, patterns and gradients created both by the artwork patterns and the weaves.

The 3 x 10 metre piece proved an exciting challenge for Gainsborough Silk Weaving and consists of eleven woven panels, which were then rearranged and stitched together to create the finished work. No two panels are the same, employing a mixture of warps and weft yarn to create a completely different feel from one side of the loom to the other. Using silks, cotton, rayon and lurex to create added depth the installation has  great impact and is enticing.

The SU Bar will be open to students and the public from September 2014.
SONY DSC

Fiorete Group : The magic fabric

Fiorete logoFiorete began its production in 1934 at Como, Italy specialising in the production of interior decorative fabrics, using the natural fibres of the time such as silk and cotton. By 1950 they were the first company to use synthetic fibres. At Fiorete, they have been constantly innovating and investing in R&D and in their production system.

Fiorete have created a system of refined domotics which include a yarn warehouse that is fully automatised and bidirectional connections between the weaving plants and management system. They feel they are a leading company in quality innovation gaining the Seri.co certification and OEKO-TEX.

Fiorete fabrics has been used in well known projects, by leading designers and architects in and around the world such as; Aria Sky Suites by Peter Marino, Las Vegas, The Burj Khalifa Armani Hotel, Dubai and the Nhow Hotel by Karim Rashid, Berlin.

With this spirit of constant innovation, search for new development and after three years of intensive studies, Fiorete have developed a new technology which allows weaving and integrating optical fibers on jacquard looms.
Fiorete Magic Sofa 2low resFiorete Magic Sofa 1low res

The optical fibre is a thin strand of glass or synthetic cable that carry light from one end to the other, without light in its length. The optical fibre filters out ultraviolet rays and infrared, does not transmit heat thus it is inflammable and can be immersed in liquid, making it one of the safest materials to use. It is compact, fan-less, has high light output, multicolour illuminators that requires almost no maintenance and is extremely energy efficient.

Its versatility makes it today, the most suitable alternative lighting systems where until recently was not possible to achieve better results in the desired colour definition that can be used for a multitude of lighting applications in home decoration and interior architectures. Due to these features it is now used in various sectors such as exhibitions, various types of industries, the arts and crafts, museums and scenography just to name a few.

The starting point for Fiorete was the vision to explore all the possibilities given by this new generation yarn such as the optical fibre, normally used in other fields and industries and to find an application to the industrial textile world. They were very excited in to be able to control light while giving radiance to our fabrics. In other words bringing “life” into fabrics.
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Exhibition: By the Banks of The River Lea

Processed with VSCOcam with c1 presetOver the Autumn of 2013 weaver Ali Holloway walked the length of the River Lea from its source in Bedfordshire to where it eventually joins the River Thames at Limehouse.

Prompted by the experience of this solitary walk she has used the medium of woven cloth to recall the colours, textures, moods and rhythm of the walk.

Following the River Lea walk in roughly 8 mile sections she documented her experience as she went, with photographs, drawings and a blog. This inspiration has been transformed into a collection of hand dyed and hand woven pieces which are often sculptural, collaged and hand stitched.
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Profile: Catarina Riccabona

C_Riccabona 2Catarina Riccabona is a London-based textile designer / weaver. Originally from Austria she came to London to work in publishing, but after some time decided to change her career.

She did a Foundation Course at Chelsea College of Art and Design followed by a BA (Hons)  in Textile Design at Central Saint Martins where she specialised in woven textiles. Catarina started her own textile design business upon joining Cockpit Arts in May 2012. She is also a recipient of the Cockpit Arts/Clothworkers’ Foundation Award 2012/13.

Using traditional hand-weaving techniques Catarina designs and makes woven fabrics for scarves, cushions and throws. Each piece is made from start to finish in her Deptford studio. Her distinct aesthetic language is informed by a sound ecological concept based on a strict selection of yarns.

Main image photography by Gareth Hacker, courtesy of The New Craftsmen.
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Woven Light: Swedish School of Textiles

therese.amusgidlof@gmail.comWoven Light was exhibited at Stockholm Furniture Fair 2014. Under the theme light – material – structure the textile design students from the Swedish School of Textiles, University of  Borås, explored the interaction between different light settings and light qualities and the creation of woven textile structures. Special light emitting and reactive materials were introduced, including reflex materials, “glow in the dark” and PMMA optical fibres. The aim was  to introduce the students to Smart Materials and current textile research in the context of traditional weaving techniques. The course has been lead by Ulla Ranglin, hand weaving expert, accompanied by Barbara Jansen, textile design researcher in the area of light emitting textiles. They are  also members of the Smart Textiles Unit at the Swedish School of Textiles.

The exhibitors were Ellinor Eliasson, Frida Samuelsson, Joanna Vikström, Malin Bobeck, Therese Amus Gidlöf. Textile design students in their 3rd year.

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Exhibition: Weaving with Paper

Weaving with paper exhibition posterLR