News
Thursday 5 July 2007
Rich menu of creativity and diversity for MA exposition
Textiles which allow the visually impaired to explore fabrics through touch and garments which celebrate the power of women are among the inspirational and groundbreaking ideas at this year’s MA Art and Design Exposition at Nottingham Trent University. Feast, which runs from July 14-21, will feature work spanning fashion, textiles, knitwear, fine art, graphic design, performance and live art, designed environment and product design.
Almost 80 students from 12 countries will present a rich menu of creativity and diversity, reflecting the extensive breadth of collaborative, cultural and international influences across the School of Art and Design’s postgraduate courses.
MA Textile Design and Innovation student, Lucy Wilhelm, has combined surface pattern design and texture to create textiles to benefit the visually impaired. She applies hand-processed techniques on top of her digital prints which raise the patterns of the material allowing the consumer to feel their way around the design.
Lucy came up with the idea for Sense and Sight after researching the types of problems encountered by people with poor vision. She decided to focus on imagery featuring religious symbolism after discovering a tactile heritage trail for visually impaired people in Nottingham, which leads to areas of historical significance such as St Mary’s Church. The designs also take on a stained-glass appearance and keep within context by showing characters with visual impairment.
Lucy said:
“This project, which is also aimed at people with good sight, allowed me to explore the standard parameters of design by creating textiles with a highly innovative approach to surface patterns. It allows our society to explore their fundamental senses of touch and sight.
“The activation of these two senses enables us to become more aware of the rising number of vision impaired people. I really wanted to come up with an idea which could make a difference to society and was not entirely dominated by seasonal trends.”
A celebration of the power of women who are not afraid to stand out is the focus of work by MA Fashion
Knitwear Design student, Jacobien Spekreijse. Muses for her project were 18th Century feminist Mary Wollstonecraft and expressive Icelandic singer-songwriter Björk, whose characteristics she has attempted to recreate in a collection of five garments.
The knitted pieces aim to capture the quirkiness and dynamic nature of their personalities. Structure and silhouette are used to illustrate power, and a series of lines depict various characteristics – influence, for example, is translated onto one garment through sharp white lines on a dark background.
Jacobien said:
“I used to design clothes to try to make women feel stronger, rather than just an object of lust. I believe that with fashion design women can be both powerful and sexy, one does not need to exclude the other. I would like women to feel important and get noticed in my clothes.”
The exposition will reflect the truly international nature of the postgraduate MA community at Nottingham Trent University. Other work on show will span Korean fashion, Greek typographic design, British and Nigerian culture, Indian dissertations, Japanese textiles, Dutch wallpaper and Chinese photography.
The Dean of the School of Art and Design, Ann Priest, said:
“The School has an international reputation for high standards of achievement and innovation in all areas of art and design. The postgraduate courses offered here provide students from diverse backgrounds with an opportunity to be part of a progressive environment, all of which will be prevalent in the work on display in this exposition.”
ENDS
Notes for editors: The shows are open Monday to Saturday between 10am-4pm and will take place in the university’s Bonington building, a state-of-the-art centre for creativity, housing extensive design facilities. It was officially opened last year by fashion designer, Sir Paul Smith.
For more information on the Postgraduate MA Exposition visit www.ntu.ac.uk/ntudegreeshows or email postgrad.ntsad@ntu.ac.uk or call 0115 848 8434.
Press enquiries please contact: Dave Rogers, Press Officer, on Tel: 0115 848 8782, or via email: dave.rogers@ntu.ac.uk
Or Therese Easom, Press and Media Relations Manager, on Tel: 0115 848 8774, or via email: therese.easom@ntu.ac.uk
