Students work promises to not be a witter

Three talented students from the BA Hons Contemporary Textiles Degree course will be exhibiting at the Bod of Gremista in May. It is a joint venture between Shetland College UHI and The Shetland Textile Museum.

 

The 3rd year students have called their show ‘Oot o a Witter’ which is a Shetland Dialect term meaning getting out of a tangle or muddle.  For the students, this represents their learning journey to date and reflects their approaches to the textile materials which are the basis of their creative work.

Student Rebecca Scanlon specialises in knitwear design and she is especially interested in construction and deconstruction of garments. Through recycling, up-cycling and re-using knitted textiles she has created pieces of knitwear that take elements from the old and has merged them with the new.

Nicole Taylor’s chosen discipline is woven fabrics and her work explores nature as a destructive force.  The main focus of her work is to make associations through colour and texture, creating a strong correlation with rust and peeling paint.

Elaine Nicolson meanwhile has chosen to develop felted knitwear design with a focus on traditional lace knitting and she has created that using innovative computer aided designs.  She has also explored how different yarns work together when felted to create new surface textures.

Faye Hackers, Programme Leader for Contemporary Textiles, said “The exhibition at The Shetland Textile Museum is part of our third year Professional Practice module where students learn how to behave as practitioners in the world of art and design.  This is a module we look forward to each year as you can really see the students developing their key skills; building professional looking websites, gaining experience in what is often their first public exhibition, and making contacts with key members of the textiles community while participating in important local events.

‘Oot o a Witter’ will be open to the public at the Bod of Gremista from the 15th to the 28th of May.  The Bods is open Tuesday to Saturday from 12pm to 5pm and on Thursdays from 12pm till 7pm.  They will also have a private view with invited guests on the 14th of May as well as an evening talk on Thursday 18th May.  The public are invited to attend this important professional practice session for the students, when they will give presentations on their work and answer questions.  The talk begins at 6.30pm and no booking is necessary.