Neighborhood Colour Exhibition

The second years were assigned to explore two contrasting neighborhoods within London and begin researching in a 2D form such as photography and sketching and were then given the challenge of turning their 2D forms and knowledge into a 3D textile. Many of their briefs were describing a contrasting characteristic between two neighborhoods. They also had to convey the importance of colour in design.
Elge Vaituelvicute observed Colliers Wood and China Town and from there created an amazing knit vest. She knitted stripes of yarn and then treated those knitted stripes as if they were yarn and knitted them together, which made the vest look braided and complex and very very chunky. I do not think I would ever produce anything like this but it was very beautiful and I would love to wear it.
I also admired Henry Muller's work. The way he presented it was spectacular. He embossed geometric shapes into a material similar to wadding and covered a whole wall with these "distorted shadows" and then projected his work, which was geometric patterns, onto the white embossed wadding that looked like modern minimalistic sculptures.
Trudi Hood also had impressive presentation skills. I did not think her actual work was that strong but the way she presented it was really interesting. She encased her woven samples in colored plexi glass and put lights onto them. I would never produce anything like her weaving samples but her presentation skills inspired me.
Surprisingly all of the students I spoke with did not address sustainability. They said that right now they are more focused on improving their skills and technical competence. I was a bit disappointed because Chelsea is so focused on sustainability. It seemed to me that the people in stitch were the most sustainable, they used a lot of recycled plastics and that the printers were the least concerned with sustainability.
It was very useful to speak with someone who knows where you are coming from and who can tell you a bit about what is about to come. I did not realize that you can change your specialization. It is nice to see also that we will be designing big important projects in the future that works up to the goal of the exhibition. In stage one it can be a bit annoying because you have a bunch of itty bitty projects.

A couple of the girls in print said that it was difficult to stay focused on their task because their ideas kept changing every week. That is where the tutors not only become good support but a resource tool: "They are meant to keep you on track and sort through your work and tell you what you should continue with and what should stay in the past," states Holly another student specializing in print.