Melbourne based illustrator Polly Dedman
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Monday, December 14, 2009
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
eva q interview
Eva q Huynh is a fashion designer with a ‘fresh’ feminine style. Her label Eva Q has been snapped in beautiful photo-shoots and acknowledged by Australia’s top fashion designers. A recent graduate from textile design, her range celebrates traditional skills with a strong delicate style to create garments that are both floaty and ornate.
So much has been happening for this hard working talent that I had to find out all the exciting details and see just how all these individual garments have been made from just, one young lady.
You’re a graduate of Textile design, what made you choose the direction of fashion design? I have always wanted to be a fashion designer. I’ve known since I was about 12 or 13, my mum made me sew pillow cases! Studying Textile Design has given my work a point of difference from the other labels out there.
Winning the Student designer of the year award at the 2009 NRA (The Australian Fashion Design Awards) for your graduate collection was just the beginning of your collection of awards. Tell me about this first range and your idea to create your own label. Ahh… the NRA Fashion Awards. It was a project for Uni and I only made one dress. I did a lot of research and sampling for the project and there was so much potential in it, so I decided to take it a step further and create a small collection. I never expected to win. I was googling fashion competitions and I came across the NRA Australian Fashion Awards, the timing was perfect. Just graduated from Uni and instead of relaxing and going out with friends, I wanted to do more designing and sewing. Crazy I know..I met Daniel Alexander at the Fashion Awards and I had my dress catalog in my handbag, so I whipped it out and he was very interested in work and told me to email him. Next thing I know started my own label in May and things have just been crazy after that.
Your award won you great expose and a scholarship to Paris. What did you get up to there? Tell us every detail! Paris, Paris, Paris… The best month of my life! I did the ‘very intensive’ summer fashion workshop at the Paris American Academy. A very good course to do if you want to work in fashion, I highly recommend it.
The course includes: Backstage access to some Haute Couture fashion shows. Including Elie Saab, nicest man in the world! I was one of the few who got to dress the models at that show and let me tell you, that man is very talented. Couture workshops with very strict couturiers, these women use to work for Madame Gres and Nina Ricci. If something was stitch slightly wrong we would have to go back and unpick it. Everything has to be PERFECT. Hat making workshops with Jean Pierre Trizt who is a hat maker for Jean Paul Gaultier and made the hats for Madonna’s ‘Confessions on the Dance floor’ tour. My business and marketing teacher use to work for Dior and YSL. Trend lectures and classes from Mr. Philip Fimmano who manages Studio Edelkoort, one of the largest trend forecasting company’s in the world.
That’s about all I did in Paris. Working and sewing almost everyday, I didn’t have time to be a tourist; we had to go to school on weekends! But it was a good time, got to live life as a true Parisian, eating bread and drinking wine in front of the Eiffel Tower.
Sneak peak of Eva's pics from Paris Haute couture fashion shows.
Eva Q, has caught the eye of many designers, how would you describe your style? My style is very feminine. Elegant and classic lines paired with intricate details. There is also a strong focus on textures and embellishments (This is where the couture training kicks in).
Who creates your pieces? Me, myself and I. I’m such a control freak, I won’t even let my mum help me with embellishments!
Your photo-shoots are beautiful was this a large project to create? I worked with a great team of people on my Parisian Love Affair shoot. Elvina the photographer is such a great talent and so professional. Desiree McPhee runs Style aid Melbourne and she did the styling for my shoot. Hair and make up were wonderful! Models were gorgeous! It was the perfect shoot and I will be working with some of these talented people again for my Black dress collection. So stay tuned!
Do you have a goal when designing? Who and what inspires you? I try to create timeless investment pieces. Women should spend more money on something special that they will love and look after instead of spending money here and there for pieces they will only wear for one season. I have always been inspired by Haute Couture fashion, the attention to detail and weird wonderful ideas. My dream job is to be an avant garde fashion designer/artist, like Sandra Backlund. Who inspires me? Strong, focused, independent women, like Mademoiselle Chanel. But my favorite designers are Elie Saab, Galliano, Lacroix and Melbourne designer and RMIT graduate Maticevski.
Do you have a favourite material to work with? It’s so great to see your environmental awareness within the garments, is this hard task to manage and discover new pieces? Silks are a must! I use a lot of chiffon, georgette, tulle and a hint of satin for shine. But I also like using jersey fabrics; it provides a lot of comfort and stretch to suit the body shape of the wearer. It’s quite hard to be 100% eco friendly, but I am trying my best. My wholesaler is local and all there fabrics are Australian made, I also source a lot of trims and embellishments at local markets. Another way of being eco friendly is by using your off cuts. After I have cut the body out I reuse the remnant fabric to create flowers or add texture to a garment, so I use roughly 90% of a piece of fabric. And of course all the garments are made in my studio by me, every single cut, stitch and flower.
What’s next for Eva q, what are you looking forward to? Hopefully stocking in more boutiques around the country, I have my eye on Sydney. I really need my own studio and possibly a clone, or maybe an assistant. Anyone interested? L’Oreal Melbourne Fashion Festival is slowly creeping in and I have big plans for that collection, but it’s a secret.
I give you an a3 piece of fabric what would you do with it! Quick! Cut it, gather it, burn it. Then I’d probably add some flowers to it! Haha
Do you have any other creative outlets? Hobbies? Obsessions? I have plenty of obsessions; I love flea markets, food, travel and Britney Spears. Books play a big part of my life. I don’t have time to read novels but I like reading about craft, fashion, culture and nature/ environment.
Pop up store Insert name here stocking Eva Q - open till end of December.
Eva Q updates here.
Image credit:The parisian love affair shoot by Elvina Mae Farkas (image 1&8) .Courier Mail Shoot by Glen Krohn (image 2).
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Monday, November 30, 2009
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
minjae lee
Minjae Lee, a young guy from South Korea is drawing some serious pattern clash / portrait / mixed media work.
Monday, November 9, 2009
Friday, November 6, 2009
Thursday, October 29, 2009
emily o'brien interview
Emily O’Brien is a busy girl! With a full time job as manager at Dinosaur Design, Emily balances a great variety of projects. Her jewellery has been snapped up at the National Gallery of Australia and her performance art ‘Optical eyes’ is about to tour. The jewellery range, which if you missed her shows you may never have seen, is so intricate and delicate, each piece could tell a story like art pieces to keep forever. So special, yet so hidden, till today! I have grabbed the talented crafter for an Interview and to showcase some of these little gems!
Do you have a label name for your Jewellery? I haven't really established a label name yet. I have always found it difficult sticking to one idea and for this reason I don't have one! I guess I use my own name for my jewellery pieces, but for my performance art group I managed to fluke it and come up with the name ‘optical eyes’, which perfectly represents what I'm trying to achieve in that field.
Is their a favourite piece of yours and if so which one? With my jewellery I really enjoy playing on words. I find my chip on the shoulder brooch probably the most successful. I also really enjoyed the processes of making my personal baggage series. They're much darker and personal but the element of mystery and sentiment was really fun to explore.
Where do you design and create? Do you have a studio space? At the moment I am working from my garage. It’s a minimal set up, but its working for me at the moment. I hope to move back into a larger studio space when I have more time on my hands!
Do you have a preferred choice in colour and materials? I enjoy working with most materials and I'm a colour freak so I'll add colour wherever I can! But when it comes to the treatment of silver I like it blackened or whitened and nothing in between. I have a real aversion to polished silver. I like the 'softness' that the black or whitened treatment gives. I also enjoy working with aluminium. It’s very soft and so easy to saw! My lecturer Johannes Kuhnen was a pro at annodising aluminium and I learnt the ropes of him. I had a lot of fun experimenting with resist prints and creating layers of colour on aluminium.
Tell me about your background, what led you to design these pieces? I initially started off wanting to do glass art the Canberra School of Art under Steven Proctor, but I was finding it difficult to get accepted so I went and studied Interior Design and Furniture Design. I knew I wanted to be an artist, but I was desperate to study and learn new skills. After graduating from Interior Design I worked heavily as sets and prop design and then costume design. It was whilst working as a costume designer that I realized I was more concerned with working with the body and self. I decided to concern myself more with the tactility of objects and how materials and the way we dress or adorn ourselves represents who we are. This was when I decided I wanted to do Gold and Silversmithing over glass. But in the end my lecturers had a very utilitarian approach to making and I don’t think they initially appreciated my organic approach to goldsmithing. I think this led me to become cheekier and want to push the boundaries of jewellery. I wanted to create narrative jewellery that was also seen as art and not just craft. I found this strange phenomenon amongst goldsmiths with their 'status Brooches’ at gallery openings and I felt the need to comment on this but in a playful way, hence the 'chip on the shoulder'. My personal baggage series came very much from within. They represent personal experiences. I wanted to create charms that commemorate the more devastating life changing experiences we all go through as opposed to the more celebratory events.
What was your first project and what path did this take you on? This is a tricky question. I've feel like I’ve been doing projects for as long as I can remember!! I guess the first major project I did and got paid well for was shortly after I completed my interior design degree. I worked as a costume and prop designer for a multicultural festival ceremony in Canberra. I had a month to make 165 costumes and on top of that I was working 9-5. I work best under pressure!
Who inspires you? And where do you turn for inspiration? I'm inspired by my many things I suppose, and they constantly shift and change. I'm drawn to artists that know how to have fun and often use colour, like Folkert de Jong and Bruce Nauman. I love the playfulness and sometimes seriousness of Otto Kunzli and Gerard Richter’s jewellery. I love the sculptural fashions of issey Miyake and Fortuney. I am heavily into 1960’s minimal furniture design and the psychedelic era and I also get alot of inspiration from films like Vampyros Lesbos, Suspiria, Spellbound..... I could go on forever but I’d just bore you!
Do you have any other creative outlets? hobbies? obsessions? I'm obsessed with psychedelia, be it art, music, fashion.. and this has somehow led me into performance art. I felt kind of frustrated going to so many friends’ gigs and feeling like I was an outsider or had nothing to offer or any input. I really wanted to be a part of what was going on in this scene because there’s so much exciting shit happening locally, but I’m not musically inclined whatsoever. Then I though to myself that visually these gigs can be pretty monotonous. So I decided I'd cut lose and throw some colour around and see what kind of reaction I could get. I just got back from touring for electro fringe this year with John Kilduf from the United States and a bunch of other amazing performers from Australia and Japan. But my obsessions don’t stop there; I like to collect 60's-70's furniture, art, posters and vintage/antique textiles. I am constantly looking at ways of making my home feel more cozy and colourful. I love to entertain so the two go hand in hand I suppose. I am always on the look out for beautiful objects. My house is cluttered with objects and they vary in styles, era and materials.
How do you balance this great variety of creative output? Is jewellery your main focus? And how to you manage your time with this variety? I’m not sure how I do it. Its been a hectic year and I’m looking forward to approaching next year a little differently. I’m hoping to replace my performance art with more installation works and put the focus back on my jewellery in 2010. I’ve always liked to be busy and explore new fields. It keeps me on my toes and it doesn’t allow things to get too stagnate for me which is really important. I find I am too easily distracted so I have to work fast.
Are your designs art pieces? Or wearable? My jewellery aims to be art as wearables. Jewellery in my mind should be personal and sentimental. I believe it’s a representation of the wearer. Like a part of their soul is on display.
Who do you design for? I design primarily for myself. I have done some commission work but I’d like to think that clients approach me for my style and ideas and not just my skills!
Are they somewhere to be seen now? No, sadly not at the moment
What's your proudest achievement? I was pretty pleased to be invited to exhibit in the international craft exhibition, ‘Talente’ in Munich and to also receive a grant to travel there. But early this year the National Gallery of Australia bought some of my 'Hair Chair' combs so I'm pretty thrilled to have that on my resume now!
Where do you see the range going? and what are you looking for to next? I hope to create a new range of hair combs and hopefully launch them in time for the racing carnival next year. Fascinators need a revamp!! I am working on an installation piece at the moment which will be based on puns and parodies.
Which five words best describe you? I have absolutely no idea (ha! That’s 5 words!
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
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