Royal College of Art Textile Graduate Highlights
This year, the Royal College of Art invited textile designer Orla Kiely, best known for her bold colour and iconic Stem leaf print, to select her favourite final pieces from the MA Textile Design course.
Exclusively for Selvedge, Orla Kiely and the Royal College of Art have shared her comments on their impressive body of work, providing guidance for future designers and students.
Image courtesy of Dominique Lanz. Image above: Elsa Anderson.
"There is an overarching theme across the students' work I have looked at. The future proofing of our craft, giving back longevity and protecting what we already have. Caring proactively about our planet and striving to make a difference impacts all of us in the long term." Orla Kiely
Dominique Lanz
Dominique’s practice to create a strong dense material by layering multiples of dead stock to make what appears to resemble a cloth type plywood which she then laser cuts, builds, assembles, and ties into organic giant art forms. She uses techniques such as sublimation printing, foil coating on surfaces for 2D textural effects. The colour on some pieces is so refreshing, and the wonderful strata effects almost like liquorice all-sorts in their clarity stand out as something to build on giving the dead-stock a second life. Her creative journey to highlight and alert us to the current obsession with over consumption is quite shocking and provocative.
Image courtesy of Jiayan Diao
Elsa Anderson
I am always drawn to the simple process of screen printing which has sadly been overtaken more recently by digital printing for speed, and commercial viability. Elsa is championing this and maximising the clean sharp quality and depth of colour that can only be achieved this way.
I love her use of colour and her very illustrative handwriting that is so perfect for her kind of narrative. These would make wonderful prints for thoughtful, high end fashion pieces that would be loved and cherished, never to be thrown away!
Image courtesy of Mimansa Bhandari
Jiayan Diao
These forms and sculptural pieces are so beautiful. The organic, amoebic like quality, almost as if they are alive, yet treated to look rusted and decayed like ancient tribal artefacts. Her delve into basketry and use of coiling waste materials such as old rope, creates colour work that is both calming and soothing.
I am always inspired by weavers who bring true pattern and colour to their work. The restraints of the technique often require real exploring to find the thing that makes the fabrics sing. Mimansa has taken nature as a theme with greens and purples as a base, creating structures and textures rhythmic and micro, mimicking many of the geometric and floral repeat patterns found in nature under a microscope. The colour and rhythm of these create fabrics that would appeal in a fresh open architectural space.
Sophie Boylan
To care about our oceans is caring about our futures. I really enjoyed Sophie’s work, and her passion driving it. Her endeavour to create sustainable alternatives to plastic sequins through natural materials is impressive and relevant, her examples of sequinned embroidery work truly beautiful. Alongside this practical development she is drawing on the aging process accepting its beauty as it evolves and changes, a reality that once embraced is more beautiful in its very essence.
A series of exhibitions and events and activities, showcasing the work of graduating Royal College of Art students runs from 20 June to 4 August.
Find out more and plan your visit:
www.rca.ac.uk/news-and-events/events/rca2024