Ellie Samson BA (Hons) Textiles in Practice
I’m a multidisciplinary textile artist and designer, currently based in Manchester. My work focuses on textural, colourful and graphic design, which I bring to life through fashion and interior design. Working with bright colours is a key element in my work. I enjoy exploring colour relationships, which leads to bold and wide range of textured samples.
My practice concentrates on playful art, coupled with a keen interest on sustainability, feminism and ethical production. My designs seek to achieve a playful, fun and adventurous atmosphere which is enhanced with my strong use of colour. When developing any projects my outcomes have a strong consistent focus towards graphic, illustrative designs through embroidery, patchwork, appliqué and embellishment. The strength of my work lies in combining digital print design with hand painted abstract work and bold motifs. Throughout my degree I have developed a varied portfolio demonstrating my technical skills and creativity as well as showing my work process towards specific briefs.
I aim to make art that helps others, focusing on workshops with children and young adults which introduces different concepts to peoples’ lives. I also enjoy collaboration and working within a team, and going forward I hope to explore how collaboration could help to push my creative practice further considering the future of design and increasing engagement within my practice. As well as this I want to continue my design journey, making prints and accessories and selling them under my own brand.
For this project, Future Nostalgia, I based the work on my childhood and the toys I used to play with when I was younger. I wanted to create a collection for myself that I would have loved as a child. For me, the clothing I wear is an important part of my identity so this concept is something I have wanted to delve into. I want to challenge the fashion norms of what is seen as acceptable to wear, by battling issues of identity, body image and conformity. Through this project I enjoyed using expressive mark making, abstract paintings and colour experimentation paired with textural embellishment and techniques.
