Crysalis -Textiles Innovation Research Project
This relentless pursuit of the creative possibilities still to be discovered by a combination of the artisan with high tech applications is risk taking at its most exciting. Bottle delights in pushing the boundaries – this is a cause for both celebration and breathless anticipation for the future”.
Susan Prichard, Senior Curator of Decorative Arts at Royal Museums Greenwich, London
The “Travelogue Collage” sofa, wall hangings and artist book form a series of one-off printed textiles. The work was exhibited at the Crysalis Digital Encounters Exhibition UCA Canterbury, June 2014, showcased at the Contemporary Applied Art Gallery in London, Sept 2014 and exhibited at the closing conference and exhibition of Crysalis at the TO3 Open Innovation Centre in Belgium, Dec 2014. Neil presented his research outcomes at this conference.
Neil was appointed lead academic researcher for the international Crysalis project, 2011-14, which was part funded by the European Regional Development Fund and the Interreg 2 seas programme supporting cross border, cross regional collaborative projects. The Crysalis projects offered opportunities to engage with new technologies, explore traditional craft techniques, to work and exhibit internationally, connect with textile business in the UK, France and Belgium, and to help participants to take their practice to new levels or in new directions.
Neil collaborated with the Upholstery Workshop, a bespoke furniture company in Kent, who hadn’t previously worked with digitally engineered printed cloth. This project provided the context to interrogate the relationships between digital and contemporary print methods, fashion pattern cutting and engineered print design as well as batch production and one-off piece production techniques.
A key focus of the research was the application of four-way digital pattern matching of both visible and concealed areas of design. Neil worked closely with the UK’s leading digital textile print company pushing contemporary digital design software limitations of file size and resolution quality. The resulting pieces encompass both traditional crafted upholstery technique whilst developing new levels of expertise in digital textile design, bringing unique pre and post digital perspectives to this collaboration and to the delivery of contemporary CAD and CAM technology at UCA.
The dissemination of outputs have engaged a wide student, academic, working professional and public audience.
Artist statement
Neil was appointed lead academic researcher for the international Crysalis project, 2011-14, which was part funded by the European Regional Development Fund and the Interreg 2 seas programme supporting cross border, cross regional collaborative projects. The Crysalis projects offered opportunities to engage with new technologies, explore traditional craft techniques, to work and exhibit internationally, connect with textile business in the UK, France and Belgium, and to help participants to take their practice to new levels or in new directions.
Neil collaborated with the Upholstery Workshop, a bespoke furniture company in Kent, who hadn’t previously worked with digitally engineered printed cloth. This project provided the context to interrogate the relationships between digital and contemporary print methods, fashion pattern cutting and engineered print design as well as batch production and one-off piece production techniques.
A key focus of the research was the application of four-way digital pattern matching of both visible and concealed areas of design. Neil worked closely with the UK’s leading digital textile print company pushing contemporary digital design software limitations of file size and resolution quality. The resulting pieces encompass both traditional crafted upholstery technique whilst developing new levels of expertise in digital textile design, bringing unique pre and post digital perspectives to this collaboration and to the delivery of contemporary CAD and CAM technology at UCA.
The dissemination of outputs have engaged a wide student, academic, working professional and public audience.
Artist statement
work
Wanderlust
Research Project Crysalis Textiles Innovation
Research Project |
All that Remains
Thirty Years In The Making Commissions
Textile Art |
Dyers 550th Anniversary
Commissions Commissions
Fashion & Interior Accessories |
Works in
Public Collections |