NCAD Graduate Design Show | Marie Varley’s Design Column

By Marie Varley Last updated Jul 5, 2016

Irish Artist Marie Varley searches the country for the very best in Irish design to bring to you here on HeadStuff. This week she discusses her personal favourites from the NCAD Graduate Design Show.

This week I visited the NCAD Graduate Show. A huge showcase of the culmination of four years or more hard work by our countries up and coming artists and designers, graduate shows all over the country are always an exciting place to discover fresh talent. Many of my previous Headstuff featured artists learned their trade at NCAD so I was delighted to take a look at this year’s graduate work. Here are my top design picks:

Barry Taylor
Broken Perspective
A Womanswear collection of screen and digital prints
Barry’s candy coloured textile prints caught my eye the minute I walked into the ground floor of the School of Design building. The inspiration for his prints come from the idea of restoring beauty to the broken;

Barry taylor NCAD design headstuff.org — Barry Taylor NCAD Design Graduate 2016

‘It explores the idea of broken fragments of glass and ceramics dispersing, cracking and smashing, and how this can appear aesthetically appealing, even after destruction. The collection contains bright colours and a combination of opaque and sheer fabrics, in the form of a variety of cottons and silk organza. Broken Perspective is marketed towards younger women as vacation wear for high end resort destinations. The collection is designed for blocky loose crop tops, high waisted skirts and shift dresses.’

www.barrytaylor design.blogspot.com

Jade Breen
Craft Design – Ceramics
Jade’s collection of beautiful ceramic pieces is born from the premise of the collection and the human need to collect and consume. The results of this series of work are absolutely breathtaking.

Jade Breen NCAD Design Graduate 2016 headstuff.org — Jade Breen NCAD Design Graduate 2016

“I began my research for this body of work with the question, “Do the objects we surround ourselves with tell a story?’ The question was formed in response to my mother’s collection of domestic ware, originally belonging to my great grandmother. My mother’s collection is of great personal value to her as her legacy of treasured family heirlooms because each object embodies part of her family history. My completed works are composed of clean, sleek ceramic forms with a combination of mixed media attributes to provide a touch of eclectic aesthetic.”

Conor Scott
Safe Passage
Visual Communication

In light of all the recent Brexit talk, Conor Scott’s graphic design work comes as a refreshing take on approach to refugees. Safe Passage, his graduate showcase is a project focusing on helping refugees once they arrive into a foreign land with the hope of offering a sign of welcome.

Conor Scott NCAD Design Graduate 2016 headstuff.org — Conor Scott NCAD Design Graduate 2016

“Communities are facilitated with the opportunity to sponsor safe passage to Ireland, as part of the support package, refugees are provided with a welcome pack that will help orientate them into their new surroundings. As a nation we have a history well documented with enforced emigration as a result of famine, yet Ireland is taking in some of the lowest numbers of refugees in Europe. It is our humanitarian obligation to give back the opportunity our ancestors were given and welcome these people into our communities. “

www.instagram.com/conor5cott

Stephen Burke
Less Is More
Gloss Paint, Emulsion & Electrical Tape on Steel

Whilst wandering back from the design building I spotted Stephen Burke’s striking paintings on steel. Although not technically design I had to include his work in my round up, as I loved them so much! His work is derived from graffiti removals around Dublin City with titles such as “Smithfield” and “Clanbrassil Street Upper”.

Stephen Burke NCAD Design Graduate 2016 headstuff.org — Stephen Burke NCAD Design Graduate 2016

“These removals (colloquially known as buffs) hold a great intrigue for me as they mimic the aesthetic of minimalist and abstract expressionist paintings but don’t carry the same legitimacy due to their context and authorship. The original marks made on these facades predetermine the geometry of the final paintings as Dublin City Council and home owners paint over the segment of a wall that has been scrawled upon. This creates a series of radical and conservative compositions and acts as a form of unintentional collaboration between multiple members of the public. This removal system blockades urban conversations within the language of graffiti, however, they’re also opening up a new conversation within the dialect of urban erasures as these removals have ironically subverted their original purpose of censorship to become a series of paintings in their own right. Each area in which this source material is found carries an abundance of factors which makes up its aesthetic, this allows these paintings to become something much more than an aesthetic object, they are socio-economic signifiers for their origins and represent the multiplicity in visual waste aesthetics within Dublin.

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Fiona White
In The Hand
Handmade Homewares For The Contemporary Eating Environment

Emerging from the recent food culture movement, In the Hand is designed for the contemporary café experience. Consisting of textile products including aprons, table linen and tea towels, the collection strives to innovate in terms of scale, colour and print processes.

Fiona White NCAD Design Graduate 2016 headstuff.org

“Painting is integral to my design process allowing me to understand colour, scale and composition. I utilize mark making to abstract my source of inspiration. The collection bears testimony to my time spent living spent living in Eastern Europe, I was influenced by the urban architecture that housed the population; a juxtaposition of the macro and micro.

www.fionawhitedesign.com