CLASS OF 2012
Celebrating the work of art & design graduates
Every year the National Centre for Craft & Design celebrates the latest art and design talent to emerge from our national universities by exhibiting an exciting and diverse range of work by a selected group of graduates.

This year, exhibition curator Laura Mabbutt has toured regional university shows as well as visiting ‘New Designers’ graduate show in London to select the varied collection of talent exhibiting this year. “I look for fresh ideas that stand out from the rest and relate to current trends. The theme of the show arises from this research and this year ‘sustaining and preserving in a global sense’ really shone through.”

A range of high quality, visually striking products created by 12 specially selected graduates will be on display including:
‘The Revitaliser Lamp’ by London based designer Merve Kahramen. This regenerative wax lighting piece recreates itself over time allowing its owner to re-use it. The wax melts slowly into a cup to create a new mould. Once the wax cools down and take its shape, the user can take it out and replace it into the top part of the lamp.

Craig Barrow, a graduate from the University of Brighton has developed a ‘System for Shaping Wood through Lightening Strikes’. He directs electrical energy from lightning strikes through a set of stainless steel forks drilled into a large piece of wood. What is revealed are beaten and battered forms, capturing the intensity and energy of the split second lightning strike.

Fashion is featured in the exhibition with designs by Mary James, the NCCDs 2012 Fashion Innovation Award winner selected from the University of Lincoln Fashion Studies BA (hons) course and from Manchester School of Art & Embroidery Ayasha Wood who up cycles vintage fabrics and garments, using high quality tailored pieces donated by friends or sourced in charity shops, and adorns with sumptuous bespoke embellishment.

Also on display will be Imogen Hedge’s ‘Un knitting Machine’ built around an old bicycle frame and based on pedal power. “My grandmother spent the whole time knitting sweaters but my mum threw them all away once we’d grown out of them. With my machine you’d be able to take them apart and knit something new” says Imogen who graduated from Kingston University.

The selected works drawn from across the country will be on display in the Roof Gallery of The National Centre for Craft & Design from 10 November 2012 until 6 January 2013.