Daisy Mcclay
BA (Hons) Textiles in Practice
"More is more is more, then add some more!"
I am a multi-disciplinary textile artist and designer, combining illustration, mixed media, embroidery and embellishment. Using kitsch and sometimes spiritual imagery with hand painted elements and couture embroidery methods to create ornate, colourful, maximalist usually bejewelled designs suitable for both fashion and interior.
Although my background is in Illustration, having studied at Glasgow School of Art on the Communication Design course, my heart has always been with the tactile world of textiles. My core purpose as a designer and textile artist is to promote joy and playfulness, something that I believe it is vital and is lacking in the muted political, economic and social landscape of the 2020’s thus far. In a world of grey let’s embrace more colour and sparkle!! I look forward to exploring this further at the Royal College of Art in September.
My passion for the vibrant, ornate and kitsch is apparent in the work, I have my mother to thank for that! Family and my upbringing play a huge factor in my practice. My mother, who was a punk and club owner back in the day and is now a Reiki master, with a huge sense of Northern pride, instilled her rebellious and spiritual streak in me from a young age. The eclecticism of my childhood allowed me to be creative from the start. I have always found my playfulness through imagination and drawing.
The idea of “soft rebellion” is important in my practice, meeting the harshness of world and social issues through vibrant, joyful pieces and designs. I believe it is vital as a designer that I remain grounded and maintain a strong link to community continuing to work with charities and community projects throughout my career.
