The process of making and crafting will always be what grounds me. Before I started studying architecture, I attended the University of Creative Arts where I studied 3D Design (furniture, textiles and product design). This valuable experience allowed me to gravitate towards the topics significant to me: our relationship with nature, how we treat our waste and the Importance of the process rather than the outcome (culturally and as a society).
At this time I discovered Richard Sennett and his book 'The Craftsman' which resonates with my own beliefs. It declares the importance of the new-age craftsman, "The carpenter, lab technician, and conductor are all craftsmen because they are dedicated to good work for its own sake", "he keeps working with a will; that's the craftsman in him."
Below is some of the work important to me that I created during my time at UCA:
At UCA we were encouraged to explore where our interests lie within Art & Design and develop upon them. Re-purposing waste became a strong concern within my studies, one of the first things I designed and made was a 'recycled' stool which holds out-of-date newspapers for my family's fireplace. Created from recycled floorboards from my house, a pallet, an old shirt, and two broken belts. Its purpose was to make use of the hundreds of metro newspapers left at train stations. My final project was looking further into the potential uses of newspapers and exploring the possibility of making biodegradable objects. I first developed fifteen material tests exploring how I can combine newspapers with other ingredients to create a hard but non-toxic biodegradable object. Whilst experimenting, I noticed that one of the combinations was semi-heat proof and explored its use for biodegradable coffee cup sleeves.
My final piece was a two-part biodegradable lamp, made from the developed pulp mixture and a pinewood base. The materials for my mixture were recycled newspaper, ash and rabbit skin glue, creating a lightweight material with a similar appearance to concrete.
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