Alumini of BA Textile Design for Fashion and Interiors, Bath School of Art and Design, Katie Whittaker and Sarah Fennell, have joined forces to present a really striking exhibition of their work.

The exhibition runs 2nd August – 17th September 2017. Catch it while you can at

The Jam Factory, 27 Park End Street, Oxford, OX11HU

http://www.thejamfactoryoxford.com

The Jam Factory present ‘Artefact’ a joint exhibition by print designer, Sarah Fennell and designer-maker, Katie Whittaker.

Artefact is a collaborative show, reinterpreting ancient and collected objects to re-engage a modern audience. Katie Whittaker and Sarah Fennell share a mutual fascination for museum artefacts and curiosities. ‘Artefact’ will explore the objectification of relics curated in museums through the designers’ complimentary styles.

Katie’s fluid drawn line and jewellery based interpretations will sit in conversation with Sarah’s distinctive cut and paste aesthetic collages.

Sarah Fennell is a textile designer and print maker who hand prints bespoke fabric for interior objects. Having mastered the process of silk screenprinting, she hones this ancient craft to create unique compositions of colour and object which showcase exceptional craftsmanship and integrity.

With a distinctive cut and paste aesthetic, she uses paper collage to form the basis of her ideas. Sarah Fennell is intrigued by the conversations that objects can have within a defined space. She cuts out shapes free-hand and early on in the design process, to develop the spatial interaction between shapes and negative space. These collages are then re-interpreted on fabric as large scale stencilled prints, or worked with digitally to create artwork for print. By taking a playful approach to both collage and colour, her printed works on both paper and fabric celebrate contrasts inherent to objects: surface and depth of field with line and texture: staged still life becomes an animated pattern. Sarah’s collaging and screen printing process is inherent to her design aesthetic, and focusses on communicating the joy to be found in oversized pattern and harmony of colour.

Katie Whittaker is greatly inspired by ancient objects, folklore and the sea. Currently based in Oxfordshire, she has been developing illustrative jewellery since graduating. Her Sympathetic Jewellery collection was originally based on the Sympathetic Magic exhibits at the Pitt Rivers but has grown to include inspiration from the Ashmolean, the British Museum and the SCVA. The collection focuses on the convenience of modern life and reconnects the wearer with their ancestors and the traditional hunting rituals, superstitions and beliefs that have been lost.