Katie Gaudion, Royal College of Art
ARTS THREAD takes a look at the future stars of the textile world from London’s Royal College of Art.
MPhil student Katie Gaudion’s seriously impressive yet light-hearted work secured her the much coveted Helen Hamlyn Award. For once, please do touch was the order of the day. Her innovative range of non-age and non gender specific textile toys was designed “to stimulate the primary senses of touch, sound, smell and sight, and encourage movement and play for adults and children with sensory processing dysfunctions.” Katie’s thorough approach has led her to consider scale, pattern, shape, texture, sound, weight, temperature and colour. Visitors to the show were totally captivated by this clever and engaging work. Young, old and everyone in-between were entranced and had great fun exploring the various pieces.
Rupert Newman, Royal College of Art
Captivating in a more ethereal way, the work of Rupert Newman continues to impress. Using projection and music to draw the viewer in to his complex patterned and embellished panels, he creates mesmerising changes of and colour and mood.
Also using light and the use of encapsulated mirrors to create beautiful effects, Fay McCaul’s work caught the eye of many. Transforming the traditional process of knit with the use of lighting technologies and contemporary materials, her inspiration came from both nature and the Tibetan flag.
Fay McCaul; Fay McCaul; Katie Lenton, Royal College of Art
Katie Lenton’s imagination was fuelled by her many research trips to the Huntarian museum in London, and its fascinating displays of animal and human skeletons. Concentrating on furniture and wallpapers, and working with the theme of ‘discomfort’, her final pieces incorporated contrasting materials such as wood and Perspex to create a great, modern gothic look.
Grace du Prez, Royal College of Art
The gothic vibe continued with Grace du Prez’s exhibit, but here unusual material combinations such as animal skins, plastic, metal and hair and injections of unexpected colour, gave a great twist to modern luxury in textile pieces for furniture, floor coverings and jewellery.
Safiyatou Sow, Royal College of Art
Weaver Safiyatou Sow created some beautiful, innovative pieces contrasting metal ‘yarns’ and natural fibres to depict the concept of conflicting emotions in the human body, resulting in the creation of distressed skin surfaces. She says,“ the work aims to capture these extremes between personal aspiration and life’s restrictions, into sculptural pieces as body adornment”.
Lynn Tandler, Royal College of Art
Also working in weave and exploring the tension between extremes, Lynn Tandler’s investigation into combining textiles with metalsmithing created some wonderful results, which are relevant to both interiors and fashion. All the fabrics in the collection are 40%-60% metal. She says, “The results are fabrics that behave like metal in the sense that they require no washing or cleaning. They sculpt and retain their shape, but at the same time, they behave like fabrics with their soft already ‘build-in’ lining and drape.” Fellow RCA graduate, Tiffany Tang was inspired to use Lynn’s fabrics in her recent menswear final collection.
Imogen Luddy, Royal College of Art
We loved Imogen Luddy’s multi-media work for interiors, which explore new ways of developing traditional craft techniques. Great punched ‘lace’ effects on a metal table and beautiful, collectible plates won her the Timney de Villeneuve Prize for Innovation in Design.
Jrumchai Singalavanij, Royal College of Art
Jrumchai Singalavanij won the Pollie Weiss Prize for the use of colour in textiles. Her pieces are created from waste from the textile industry, and her wholehearted and non-violent commitment to the ecosystem. Her approach to her work is very individual – she says, “I explored weave structures by carefully listening to the intrinsic voices of these new materials, letting them inspire me step-by-step through playful instinct rather than technical logic.”
Katie Mott, Royal College of Art
Katie Mott’s graphic fabric printed portraits, have a great youthful appeal and her work applies equally well to fashion or interiors. Using faded historical images and subverted union jack motifs overprinted on woven jacquards, she then embellishes the pieces with feathers and found objects.
Fiona Carson, Royal College of Art
Finally, two impressive graduates are specialising in the menswear market: Fiona Carson’s collection was inspired by ideas of abstraction and expressionism drawn from artists such as Arshile Gorky and Clifford Still. Fiona loves the process of challenging the conservative conventions of menswear and, she says, “the idea that men lack emotional expression!”
Adam Smith, Royal College of Art
Adam Smith’s textiles are inspired by Action Art and grids, and the aggressive, abrasive nature of the city. Taken from “the combative nature of moving through the claustrophobic urban environment, the end products are ”practical and urbane.”
Image credits: Fiona Carson photography by Adam Fliszklewicz.
Royal College of Art
Katie Gaudion: katie.gaudion@network.rca.ac.uk
Rupert Newman: rupert.newman@network.rca.ac.uk
Fay McCaul
Katie Lenton
Grace Du Prez
Safiyatou Sow: safiyatou.sow@network.rca.ac.uk
Lynn Tandler
Imogen Luddy
Jrumchai Singalavanij: j.singalavanij@network.rca.ac.uk
Katie Mott: katie-mott@hotmail.co.uk
Fiona Carson: fiona.carson@network.rca.ac.uk
Adam Smith: adam.l.smith@network.rca.ac.uk
