Inspiration: Sian Xeng

Sian Xeng is a Textile Designer who has created an array of wonderful things, from fabrics and wallpapers to illustrated stuffed bears and we think her work is fantastic! We particularly like her magnetic wallpaper (above) which can be customised and played with, she describes the work as.... 

“Inspired by the changeable nature of fairy tale stories, where frogs can suddenly become princes and princes can become frogs, this work is concerned with visual narratives that can be altered through interaction. I have created a collection of narrative wallpapers that allow users to move magnetic characters on the wallpaper, write on the speech bubbles and place them anywhere they like." Sian Xeng

Her work is playful, fun and beautifully illustrative - be sure to check out her full portfolio it's amazing! 

Inspiration: Kirsty Whitlock

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Check out the work of mixed media textile artist Kirsty Whitlock. She takes inspiration from political cartoons, news headlines and documentries and uses recycled and reclaimed materials to challenge 'throwaway culture'. She uses machine embroidery to add imagery and text to her found materials to transform the meaning of the material, like in the pieces above 'Bags of Aggro' and 'Tomorrow the World'. You can read more about Kirsty and her work here and see her portfolio here. 

Inspiration: The City

one Clare Toughs Graduate Collection, two Freddie Robins 'Knitted Homes of Crime', three 'Vertical' Sharon Elphick, four 'Letter Landscape 9' Jette Clover, five 'Trellick Tower' People Will Always Need Plates, six 'A Tale of Two Cities' Charlene Mullen

These are a few artists/designers who have taken inspiration from 'The City' when creating their work. Our AS students last year used the same them so if you have a look back through old posts you'll find previous posts that might relate to your project or give you inspiration; like these posts about Matthew Harris and Hella Jongerius who both create textile wall hangings!

Inspiration: Abigail Brown

Textile Designer Abigail Brown creates these wonderful birds out of scraps of fabric. She describes herself as "a continuous collector of fabrics, either bought new or used items she gathers to five new life to. Her pieces might be formed from her old pyjamas, someone's curtains from the 1970" Each piece is unique as her work is all handmade, hand sewn by Abigail herself. Her work has been well recieved and has been featured in Vogue, Elle and Selvedge just to name a few, have a look at the press section of her site for more articles and features. 

Inspiration: Hella Jongerius

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Look at these wonderful wall-hangings that Hella Jongerius created for Ikea. The pieces were created in association with UNICEF and was inspired by swedish fairytales. Jongerius creates a wide range of products including; funiture, ceramics and textiles. These blankets are also amazing! For more information about Jongerius have a read through the wide range of press articles available to read on her website.