Final year students on the BA(Hons) 3D Design & Craft course welcomed some special guests to two live online events at the end of the autumn term.
These students research and document a detailed plan for their own creative careers as part of their Professional Practice studies, so they had plenty of questions to ask their guests.
Immy Grayand Hari Gordonare award-winning recent graduates of the course.
Immy received a 2020 New Designer of The Year Environmental Design Award for her work developing new composite materials from waste scrap leather. Hari won a New Designers 2020 Belmond Award, and the 2020 Richard Seager Bursary.
Both Hari and Immy experienced first-hand the impact of lockdown on their 2020 Brighton degree show and their showing at New Designers.
They talked about this in detail and offered valuable advice on how to prepare for a similar situation in 2021 should it arise. Although they acknowledged the impact of the lack physical exhibitions in 2020, they were keen to emphasise the positives that come from having a curated online show, such as the global reach and longevity of exposure that this affords graduates just starting out.
Immy now works for Brighton-based sustainable product design company Gomi. Hari recently moved from Brighton to Cornwall and plans to use his bursary to set up his own workshop.
For our second talk we were joined by ceramicist (and 3D Design & Craft alumna) Alice Walton and jeweller Emefa Cole. Both are established practitioners with growing reputations and have received a considerable amount of press attention this year. Alice’s work recently featured on the cover of the Crafts Council’s “Crafts” magazine, Emefa’s has been featured in Vanity Fair and Vogue – and both have been included in the influential Financial Times luxury supplement “How to Spend It”.
But these were no tales of overnight success: Alice and Emefa spoke about the hard work and persistence needed to establish a sustainable creative practice and gave valuable insight into the development of their portfolio careers.
This was also an opportunity to learnt more about Emefa’s trip to the Ashanti region in Ghana (West Africa) to undertake an apprenticeship in lost wax casting techniques under the supervision of the Ashanti King’s Goldsmith. Her own work is influenced both by the techniques involved, and the symbolism embodied in the pieces themselves. Emefa shared this videowith us which documents some of the techniques she learnt.
