Spent Sunday afternoon in NCAD checking out the Degree Shows which will showcase graduate work until Sunday 22nd June. We had a number of our own graduates from DIFE showing their degree work so it was lovely to see how they had progressed!
Strong areas for me were Jewellery, Industrial Design, Fashion, Education, Fine Art Print and of course Fashion, Textile Art and Artifact and Textile Surface Design. I felt Fine Art Painting was weak and disappointing. I always go to find things that I have never seen before and can be excited about.
Industrial Design was especially strong in this regard and I felt that many of the concepts were realistic and innovative. Our own Niamh Burke presented a unique concept of developing raw materials from organic matter that had similar properties to plastics and MDF/Chipboards.
We had our very own Gillian Lynch who specialised in Jewellery and Metalwork who produced a wonderful collection called; ‘New Wave’. She explored 3-D Printing techniques using Alumide, Dyed nylon, steel and cast silver. Her collection evolved from tidal markings captured along the coast. Gillian can be contacted at: http://www.facebook.com/GillianLynchDesignerMaker
Other Jewellery Designers that stood out for me were: Maria Parsons who produced an exquisite collection based on eyewear (www.facebook.com/MariaParsonsDesignManifesto). Liz Levey who produced precious metal sculptures(www.lizlevey.com). Rebecca Maddock who created a collection of jewellery using human hair and metal (www.rebeccamaddock.com)
Fine Art Print always presents fantastic work and never fails to impress me with the core skills required to produce wonderful work. Look out for the work of: Jane Glynn (aquatintprint.com) and Jillian McAteer (www.jillymcateer.com)
Textiles being an area we are particularly interested in is a must to see. We had two students presenting here and both in Art and Artifact.
Eamonn McGill who presented work based on his exploration of the iconic story of Lady Godiva. He produced a film recreating the story using pieces he had designed and made. Alot of image creations and styling involved. You can check out his work on (www.eamonnmcgill.com).
The work of Dearbhle Gough blew me away. Dearbhle came to us with no art background at all and has proved that if you love something you can make it happen with hard work and determination! Her body of work was inspired by found family history and discarded treasures and she produced a vast collection incorporating various textile skills such as; print, embroidery and knit. You can check out her work on: (www.dearbhlegoughdesigns.com)
The exhibitions continue until Sunday 22nd June in NCAD, Thomas Street, Dublin 8.
We would like to congratulate all of our graduates this year as it was a bumper year!! Laura Malone who graduated from LIT, Grace McEwen who graduated from GMIT, Claire McDonnell who graduated from University of Ulster and the gang who finished in NCAD. We wish you every success in your future careers and look forward to following your progress.
We are still taking applications for our Creative Design Portfolio Preparation and Fashion and Textile Design Portfolio Preparation courses. So if you are interested in creating a portfolio of work for NCAD, DIT, GMIT, LIT, IADT etc…You can apply on-line at: http://www.dife.info. We will be interviewing in late August/early September.
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