A year on since I completed Embroidery…and I am back checking out this years students work…to say the least it feels strange going back…but I am looking forward to seeing what the class of 2010 has pulled out of the bag.



Anticipating a great show, the BA Hons Embroidery course at MMU, currently stands as the only full-time Embroidery degree in the UK, which makes it incredibly unique to other creative practices. With such a broad spec spanning fashion, textiles and fine-art students are encouraged to experiment with technique, medium and processes galore incorporating stitch, screen-print and drawing into their working portfolios.

 

With an eclectically diverse degree show dabbling in the likes of fashion & styling, interiors, sculpture, installations and conceptual art…I had high hopes for this year.

Laura Chesterfield

 

The first pieces of work I came across were by Laura Chesterfield, a stunning collective of animalistic prints for interiors, inspired by indigenous cultures. I was highly impressed with her bear claw prints on wallpaper, illustrated in the warmest 1970’s retro hues. I particularly admired her two bear fabric print, which cleverly combined illustration, intricate silk-screen print and delicate painstaking hand-stitch that added an elaborately tactile dimension to her work.

Visit Laura's blog here.

Grace Hamilton

As I wandered around, I was fascinated with Grace Hamilton’s conceptual jewellery that explored the craft techniques of knotting, beadwork and crochet. Unconventionally using materials such as black rubber inner tubes and sand, Grace inventively created a collection of sculptural accessories tangible, excessive and strikingly beautiful.

Colleen Friel
 

The sequin laden coastal scenes and landscapes caught my eye in the degree show, I particularly liked her playful approach to colour, embellishment and the incorporation of digitally printed fabric components. The composition of her work was lovely, with 3d relief, patchwork, prints and hand-stitch used to achieve miniature photographic settings depicting harmonious seascapes.

Visit Colleen's blog here.

Ashley Millward

I found Ashley Millward’s work to be very unique, her space was a haven of colour, texture, shape, tactile surfaces and funnily enough embroidery hoops. With her ideas and processes inspired by that directly of her family’s agricultural business, Ashley sourced all sorts of wonderful washers, discs, screws and industrial cogs to use as unconventional embellishments in her work. Her repetitive techniques used to create experimental surfaces and the arrangement of the objects worked so effectively in harmony.

Louise Carmel Hall

Louise Carmel Hall’s intricate beadwork was just stunning to say the least. Adaptable for both fashion and interiors, Louise’s imaginative approach to surface design was exquisite.

Lauren Steeper

Lauren Steeper’s astonishingly neat stitched typography, explored the relationship between chance and order. Her work was stimulated by whether sense and meaning can be found in disorder.

To visit Lauren's blog, click here.

One of my favourite pieces in the degree show was a textile landscape by Jennifer Kenworthy. Using a culmination of print, appliqué and hand-stitch Jennifer transformed plain fabric canvases into calming rural landscapes. Gestural stitch techniques used in her work, effectively illustrate textured meadows and depict fine details of nature perfectly.

To visit Jennifer's blog, click here.



The Embroidery BA (Hons) degree show 2010… showcased a wide variety of design and artistic talent…there were too many names and too many great pieces of work to mention. Congratulations to the graduates this year and good luck to each and everyone with their future prospects and careers ahead.



To find out more about the course on their website.

Words and images by Kate Alexandra McLeish.

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