Guest Speaker - Nancy Rose Taplin
On the 27th of February I listened to a
presentation by an ex-Colchester Institute graduated student, Nancy Rose Taplin
who gave a presentation of her final major project. It was fascinating to see
her approach and different ways of working. She received a very high mark of
95% for her project therefore we were all very keen to see her strengths in her
work and how her work reflected this high mark. What was most apparent during
the presentation was her intense commitment and dedication to her work. I
looked through sketchbooks and design boards and could see the immense amount
of thought and detail that had gone into absolutely every part of her work. Her
subject of World War Two for her project was illustrated throughout her designs
in a really interesting and well-thought out way.
Nancy was
born in 1980, the daughter of the sculptor Guy Taplin,
and the ceramicist and stained glass artist Robina Jack. She holds an MA in Art History and a
degree in Fashion and Textiles, and her diverse training is reflected in her
work, which umbrellas fine art, fashion and interiors, and is inspired by
subjects as disparate as the First World War and the estuary at the bottom of
her road.
Nancy has won multiple awards for her textiles, including the prestigious Texprint 2009 Interior Fashion Award, judged by Grayson Perry. She has
shown and sold her fabrics in London, Paris, India and Hong Kong.
It was really interesting to learn from Nancy how she had
incorporated her research imagery into her final piece. There were so many
discreet references such as hidden war figures in the shadows of the fringing
and a birds-eye view of the trenches on the fabric. It is clear just how much
time went into Nancy’s collection through her intricate embellishment and
successful screen printing techniques.
Overall Nancy’s work made me want to get really immersed
in my work just as she had done with her own.
She gave us some really interesting advice such as:
- Being able to recycle your ideas is extremely important.
- There needs to be something consistent in your work whether it is colour, motif or theme so that it is recognisable.
- Consider how to brand your work and make it marketable.
- Make the mistake which lead to something exciting.
- Become obsessed with your work to get the most out of it.
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