There are certain events that happen in the Irish Fashion calendar that I always make sure that I can go to, for example, the Irish Fashion Innovation Awards is certainly one of the highlights of the year, and so also is The National College of Art and Design (NCAD) Graduate Exhibition. The NCAD 2018 Exhibition features the work of graduates from across NCAD’s four Schools of Fine Art, Design, Education and Visual Culture, together with postgraduates from the MFA in Fine Art, MFA in Digital Art and MFA Design programmes. In addition, a selection of work in progress is on display by postgraduates in Design.
I visited some of the graduate exhibitions across the Fashion, Jewellery, Fine Art, ceramics and textiles and was absolutely blown away by the pieces on display. The exhibition is an opportunity for the leading artists, designers and educators of the future to showcase their creative abilities as they launch their professional careers. And I also think that it is a great opportunity for the general public to get familiar with the new emerging Irish designers and to gain exposure for them. And today I wanted to share the work of some of the Jewellery Designers that I thought was fantastic.
RM Jewellery & Art by Raminta Mikuličiūtė
I loved the detail on Raminta’s work, the small details are beautiful and you can see clearly how she was inspired by the Botanical Gardens. Through the investigating of organic shapes and unexpected lines of seedpods, she combined thin silver and embossed paper to create her jewellery collection. You can see more of her work on Instagram.
Heather Martin Daly
When Heather was exploring Toronto she was drawn in by the architecture protruding from the surface of the city. This inspired her to design a collection of architectural jewellery encasing fimo pieces. I love the colour palette that she has chosen for this collection, they are soft and against the architectural feel of the pieces offer a great balance.
Elzbieta Pranskute
Elzbieta’s pieces really grabbed my attention when I walked in, they were unlike anything that I had seen and the use of nylon filament against rose-gold plated gilding metal was just beautiful. The title of the collection was Break the Mould and her work explores the topic of self-image. You can see more of her work here.
Fiona Nevin
The colours in Fiona’s pieces really grabbed my attention! Her pieces were ones that I could see myself easily wearing, and I wish I knew at the time that I could purchase them as I would have. Fiona’s work is informed by the mark making on her everyday environment. Through exploring textures, colours and forms, she shows how traces left behind have created new senses of place. You can visit her website here.
Savannah Fox
Just because you don’t see it, doesn’t mean it’s not there Just because you don’t see something, doesn’t mean it’s not there. This collection of jewellery aims to raise awareness of issues surrounding mental health. Curiosity leads to understanding. I personally love her use of different materials such as silicone, sterling silver and acrylic. You can see more of her work here.
The NCAD Graduate Exhibition is open to the public and runs until Sunday 17th June 2018. There is free entry and the exhibitions are held across their main campus and also The Annex. You can read the full details here.
