Category: Student Spotlight

Shinning a spotlight on student working with digital textiles and processes facilitated within Edinburgh College of Art.

Student Spotlight: Laura Miani Fernandez

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Conceptual Bullet Proof Vest in Context

Over the course of the last two years, for her MFA project, Laura has been working on OJO! (oh hoh) ; a textile protest project that looks at Colombia’s ongoing civil war, and the ways textiles and design can be used as tools to spread awareness of this issue, both within local and international communities. A conflict that has lasted for decades, this project aims to encourage people to look harder, to challenge and ultimately become more consciously aware of the issues currently present in Colombia.

Within her project, Laura explores how textiles, and textile processes can highlight conflict, as well as how they can be used as a form of protest. Inspired by traditional techniques such as Mola; Colombian/Panamanian indigenous reverse appliqué textile technique, and Camouflage, Laura has designed and created a range of textiles that look to protect scared cultures, as well as those fighting to protect it and their lives.

Laura has explored, both at home and within ECA, screen printing, digital textiles and CAD Embroidery techniques. We love how inventive Laura’s been with combining techniques, in particular her experimentation with adding surface decoration to bullet proof materials, through CAD Embroidery and silk screen printing. Through access to the facilities at ECA, for her final showpiece, Laura created a conceptual bullet proof vest that combined and used the techniques mentioned above. You can see the final outcome of this in the photos above & below.

We know this project is just the start for Laura. We can’t wait to see where it takes you and how it grows with time. If you’re interested in Laura’s work, her concept of protest textiles please check out her website. There is a whole host of information on here, as well as a great short video she’s put together about her work.

Close up of Bullet Proof vest showing CAD Embroidery and Silk screen print.

Student Spotlight: Valentina Lobos Munoz

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Speculative land: Digital drawing and textile digital printing, steel square bar. Dimensions Variable. Edinburgh, 2021

For our second Student Spotlight post, we would like to introduce you to the work of Valentina Lobos Munoz. Valentina is one of this year’s graduating MFA Contemporary Art’s students. Over the last year I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know Valentina and her work, as we’ve explored fabric and printing options via the digital print facilities here at ECA.

Through her work Valentina aims to create a space where elements such as economic, racial and gender roles, can freely be questioned and reorganised, moving “beyond the perception of the land, water and people as resources or commodities.” By focusing on these elements, and how they are visually portrayed, Valentina has created a representational digital visual archive which can be used to create new and alternative realities, ones that reorganise and rearticulate these pre-existing elements. In Valentina’s own words “The virtual realm offers space for infinite combinations.”

Using both Sublimation and Reactive digital printing methods, Valentina has explored a range of textile techniques during her time here at ECA. Her piece titled Speculative Flag features digital drawings, which have been digitally printed within ECA, onto a beautiful Silk Organza. Bird, cotton and mountain, and Armadillo, are also digitally printed, but this time onto a lovely soft velvet using Sublimation prints.

You can find out more about Valentina and her work, including her recent MFA project here, as well as on Instagram. We wish you all the best Valentina, as we do to all this year’s graduating students! We’re excited to see how you’re work, and this project develops.

Speculative flag: Digital drawing and textile digital printing on silk. 300 x 130 cm. Edinburgh 2021

Student Spotlight: Camila Ospina

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Camila Digital drawing showing a sheep's head surrounded by geese, fish and other birdsVisual Mock up of digitally printed fabric in the 3D contextual formAs we get ever nearer to the end of year for our 4th years and MFA students, we start to see, despite the difficulties of the past year, beautiful and inspiring work from our students as their projects take their final form.

With this in mind, we would like to share with you the work of Camila Ospina, our first Student Spotlight blog post. Through the digital printing facilities at ECA, Camila has sampled and experimented using digital textiles within her work. We hope to share, through this brief insight into Camila’s work, how creative and versatile textiles can be, as well as Camila’s own artistic approach to textiles.

A final second year MFA student in Contemporary Art Practice, Camila has been experimenting with digital textiles since the end of last year. Her project, FARRRA looks at the sexualization of Latin American women in international spaces. As part of her project, Camila has drawn a series of digitally drawings, which she prints onto fabric through ECA’s Textile Digital Printing facilities. Camila then takes these textile landscapes and transforms them, through sewing and other processes, to create 3D sculptural forms.

Despite lockdown and ongoing restrictions, Camila has continued to explore working with textiles, learning new skills like digital printing processes along the way, as well as most recently machine sewing. We love the photo below showing Camila holding up her newly collected print outside of ECA.

Student Camila holding up her digitally printed fabric length outside of the ECA building

For more on Camila, her processes and FARRRA project please go to :

A joy to print, we can’t wait to see the final outcomes of her project.

Students of 2020

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At the start of a new year, it’s always nice to look back on the achievements of the previous year, especially when it comes to 2020. With this in mind, for some inspiration, I’d like to share with you a selection of work from last year’s graduating students, who despite the many obstacles in their way continued to explore, design and make.

The images below show a selection of work from a range of final year and master students across ECA, who used elements of digital printing from ECA, within their work. For more information on the individual designers please click on the names at the bottom of each image to take you to their individual sites. Enjoy!

 

Caroline Haraki, MFA Illustration (2020) Digital Print onto Silk Twill.

Katie Hallam, MFA CAP, Sublimation Print onto Rubber

Fanglan Lyu, MFA Fashion, Sublimation Print onto synthetic fabrics