London Met Textile Graduates Feature In Craft Council Showcase
Image Courtesy of The Craft Council
Two graduates from London Met’s BA Textile Design programme have been selected for the Craft Council’s Future Edit - a showcase of the best craft and design graduate talent from 2020.
Loraine Feldman, a weaver and textile designer, uses natural dyes and fibres as the basis of her work, inspired by the colours, textures and patterns she has experienced during her travels. She said, “I am very excited to have been selected by the Crafts Council to exhibit in Future Edit.
“After graduating it was very difficult to work out what I wanted to do next and how to go about it. In the current circumstances, it felt even more challenging. This opportunity really gave me a focus for the next stage of my career as a maker.
“I really enjoyed my time at London Metropolitan. The support and encouragement I got was invaluable. The textiles team is first-rate. They bring a wide variety of different styles of teaching and experience to the course and this makes it all the richer and more interesting. They have a wide skill base, so whatever type of textile art or design you are interested in there is always someone with relevant expertise.”
Jeanne Izard explores the gaps in the definition of function and purpose in her work and shows a reflection on our relationship to the objects surrounding us.
Her practice revolves around questioning and pushing the boundaries of the media she uses (mainly drawing, collage and textiles), in order to disrupt and subvert the things and ideas we take for granted by celebrating the blurred lines, the imperfect and the overlooked. She said, “Over the course of my BA, I started exploring disruption, and the power we give to purpose and function. Those themes would be the backbone to my final submission, and I started a series of black line drawings depicting unusable tools and mechanisms. Making a series of oversized soft Useless Tools was the perfect way to question the ways we overlook and take tools for granted until they stop functioning properly.
When lockdown started, this questioning became essential to me. Two dynamics took place: we, as a society, started noticing the 'key workers' we had been taking for granted; and in the same time, 'non-essential workers' were forced to question the meaning of the existence they lead.
I could not have foreseen how relevant these second-hand fabrics soft sculptures became, but I think they managed to bring me joy and keep me curious at that time.
“I have to say, although the subject is heavier than I intended, I did take tremendous pleasure making these pieces. I thoroughly enjoyed working on this multi-faceted project. And I somehow look at disruption in a way wider scale, now it is proven the entire world can be disrupted at once.
I think the world needs spaces where playful disruption happens, to spark conversations and for the world to move forward. So my goal for the future is to keep on making people slightly uncomfortable, because it is this specific space where you do not flee but start thinking rather than rejecting what you see.
“I feel like I wouldn't have approached such a subject without the curious intelligence that, to me, has been the core of my studies at the SAAD. Past a point, the things one make are not about skills but rather about taking part in the global conversation that is making itself, and I am humbled by the insane amount of support we have been given to assert our individuality, opinions and technique in the Textiles BA I took. I cannot wait to be able to give all tutors a fat hug when it is safe to do so!
“I am incredibly grateful to be among the makers selected for the Future Edit grad show put together by the Crafts Council, as it is hard to feel seen at the moment, it is the acknowledgement I didn't know I needed really!"
Showcasing the work of 44 selected makers, the Edit introduces some of the next generation of makers who have been selected for their creative flair, thoughtful design and skilled execution.
Future Edit is a chance to give and live with pieces you love and at the same time support a craft maker at the start of their career.
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