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FRESH
‘Fresh’ features vibrant collections of work from nine
new graduate designers, carefully selected by Kath Libbert as representing
the very best of emerging design talent. At the cutting-edge of fashion
and design, Lynne Kirstin Murray’s bold and intriguing jewellery
mixes silver and gold with paint, felt and wood. Inspired by the forest,
where Lynne says “there are large luxurious pieces and small
but beautiful pieces,” her collection includes ‘Tea Party
in the Trees’, a fantastical moving ring in silver, gold plate
and colourful enamel paint. Lynne describes her work as “a collection
of thoughts telling a story in which each component has its place.”
Adorable red felt slippers and delicately embroidered merino fleece
handbags are the work of Suzanne McCulloch - taking references from
her own childhood and memories of “hand-knits, thick woolly
tights and socks and our ever-present red shoes.” By contrast,
her show-stopping, large scale, felted ‘Bagdresses’ and
pastel wool ‘Umbrelladresses’ are tactile pieces of art
which exude a ‘naïve spontaneity’
Hand-made silver spirals are used by Sabrina Mallem to string together
rows of bright, shiny buttons into fun, easy to wear neckpieces. In
Nina Osborne’s richly decorated sterling silver brooches, traditional
patterns, such as paisley, meet modern materials and techniques, including
cold enamel, computer-aided drawing and image transfer.
Grace Girvan grew up in Scotland, close to the shores of Lower Cloudy,
Old Grutha and Chapel Point. A dedicated beachcomber, the driftwood,
pebbles and shells she collects become precious objects because they
have been selected from the countless pieces offered up by the beaches.
These original treasures, shaped by time and the elements, cannot
be reproduced by hand; Grace combines them with silver and layers
of coloured enamel to create her collection of ‘sea brooches’.
Organic structures, movement and layering are key elements of Kate
Bajic’s delicate brooches, neckpieces and rings crafted from
silver and gold. Several of her pieces have free moving surface elements,
whilst others move in tune with the wearer’s movement.
For the duration of the exhibition, theGallery will also become home
to Cathy Miles’ gang of Yorkshire-inspired, cute (but not necessarily
cuddly) birds and insects, created specially for ‘Fresh’.
She comments: “This kingdom of ornithology is illustrated on
walls, which act as a large canvas to house an eclectic mix of writing,
pen and wire drawing and small creatures made of lost and found material.”
Cathy describes her birds and insects as being ”much like us;
they have elders, speak various dialects and enjoy bickering.”
Intriguingly, she adds: “There is a distinct similarity between
the Yorkshire bird and the Yorkshire gentleman; they adopt similar
habits and share similar noises.”
Kath Libbert comments: “Having visited numerous graduate shows
and design exhibitions, in the UK and Europe, over many years, I was
so impressed by the quality of work being produced by the cream of
this year’s graduates that I decided to put together ‘Fresh’
- which perfectly sums up the collections being exhibited. The work
is refreshingly strident and confident, really bold and colourful
- and often humourous. There’s also a great cosmopolitan feel
to many of the collections. I am convinced that these are young designers
who will go on to enjoy huge success and I’m delighted to be
showing their work at this early stage of their careers.”
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