Future Makers 2016 – A Review

BY Manchester Craft and Design Centre

21/04/16

Degree Show Season is approaching and Future Makers is drawing to a close for another year. So for those who missed it (and those who didn’t!), here’s our round-up of the 11 new graduate makers who featured in our studios this year…

 

Mark Newman
www.marknewmanjewellery.com

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Mark’s work is influenced by theories surrounding the Human Condition. Through the exploration of his past experiences he has designed contemporary wearable objects with the intention of creating a dialogue between the viewer and wearer about their own realities.

“Harbouring Memory is a brooch series inspired by memory loss and the yearning to connect with the past. The work takes inspiration from my local harbour, a place key to family life and a place where I go to reflect. These brooches use the visual metaphors of distorted net patterns and weathered enamel to reference the fading and loss of memory.”

Lydia Mary
www.lydiaosullivan.co.uk 

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Lydia is an illustrator and textile print maker, specializing in screen print.

Her work is inspired by festivals, unsophisticated art and folkloric costume.

Kira Meyer
www.kirameyerglass.com

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Kira’s glass designs and sculptures are nourished by a deep bond to the sea from her coastal upbringing in Scandinavia. She explores glass as an art material and strives to transect art by fusing digital media with traditional craft processes.

I am motivated by social issues and respond through sculptural work which seeks to challenge the viewer.

Charlotte Tracy
www.charlottetracy.co.uk

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Charlotte was one of our Spotted graduates in 2015. Her debut jewellery collection, ‘METROPOLIS’ was influenced by the form and textures of her surrounding environment and inspired by the industrial elements of contemporary architecture in London.

Her pieces are made from a combination of hand fabrication and lost wax casting in sterling silver and enamelling silver, with an oxidised body, engraved back and gold-plated angles and fittings.

Melissa Yarlett
www.melissayarlett.co.uk

DSCF2358Melissa is based in her hometown on the Wirral and makes all of her jewellery delicately by hand in a quaint workshop. She is inspired by welsh mountains and sandy beaches and takes inspiration from her love of rock climbing.

She strongly believes in making individual bespoke pieces where no two are the same and does not use casting or mass production so each and every piece is different, a little piece of nature you can wear.

Mollie Paling
www.molliepaling.com

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Mollie was one of our Spotted graduates in 2015. She is inspired by the relationship between the item of jewellery and the wearer and focuses on the sentimentality of the piece and how it makes the owner feel.

Mollie makes the piece so that it feels personal to the wearer and uses simplistic designs and geometric forms to make one off pieces for her clients. Her jewellery explores the idea of a hidden meaning, safety and how a piece of jewellery wears over time with the owner.

Josie Seymour-Jones
www.josiesjones.co.uk 

Josie graduated from Hereford College of Arts in Contemporary Design Craft and is now based in her hometown in North Wales.

She works in porcelain to create ceramics with subtle surface qualities and treats the clay as if it were a canvas, approaching her work as if she were painting and building up colour to create a pictorial composition.

Elsa Rose Frere
www.elsarosefrere.com

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Elsa is a graduate of Manchester School of Art and has a First class Degree in in illustration and animation.

She has a particular interest in picture book illustration and uses ink and pencil throughout her work because she loves the delicate and textured nature of these materials.

Laura Scott
www.laurascott.portfoliobox.io

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Laura is a graduate of 3D design at Manchester Metropolitan University. She is very interactive with her style of working and chooses materials and techniques to suit the the item she is working on.

By doing this she is constantly learning new skills but she mainly works on jewellery because jewellery can be very diverse.

Ella Mae Sibley Sparling
www.sibleysparling.com

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 Ella is the founder of SIBLEYSPARLING. She has a passion for contemporary design and strives to create modern pieces that consist of clean lines, quality materials and a splash of colour.

Material and process drive her design process and she enjoys combining materials to see how they interact with each other and the contrasts that can be formed in colour and texture.

Lydia O’Sullivan
www.lydiaosullivan.co.uk

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Lydia’s passion for design comes from her desire to create a visual and physical representation of the world and people around her. Lydia enjoys producing mixed media pieces using a range of techniques and processes. She has a particular interest in line, shape and form within modernist and brutalist architecture.

“I use my practice to create work alongside and influenced by others; interacting in a way which allows them to enhance my work and in turn for me to instil some kind of enrichment.”