We love nature and wildlife. For as long as there has been art and craft, inspiration has been taken from the natural world. Whether attempting to capture its beauty on the page or using it as a way of conveying a message, we have long been enchanted by it. My weaving and story-telling continues this tradition in a modern age, for an urban-dwelling audience who perhaps aren’t so enamoured.
Inspired by the controversial idea of urban wildlife, my focus was to make people look at what they now, with eyes glued to screens and plugged into headphones, so often ignore. Fellow Londoners dismiss pigeons as dirty, winged rats; foxes as mangy bin-raiders and are often completely unaware of the exotic parakeets inhabiting their city. I wanted to draw attention to this and, taking note of TED’s sustainable design principle, Design Activism, challenge perceptions and educate consumers.
The pigeon and parakeet collections are imagined in a menswear context - as jackets and trousers the fabrics will go back out into London, connecting humans, wildlife and the city. The fox, a shaggy rug, is for an interior context. In my research I found many people angered by foxes entering their home, this is a fox that will be invited in without much issue.
The woven collections are given context with a newspaper and website, which tell stories from the animals’ points of view and reveal the amusing interactions we have with them. By giving a concrete background, I hope to educate and amuse the viewer and give my textile practice meaning.
ABOUT THE DESIGNER:
Big Smoke Wildlife is the culmination of Lara's BA Textile Design Degree at Chelsea College of Art, where she specialised in weave. In addition to her creative practice, Lara has also written for Peckham Peculiar, South London Press and Waitrose Food magazine and hopes to make a career for herself in Journalism, combining writing with her design skills learnt over the last three years to make engaging and original content for the digital age. She starts a MA in Interactive Journalism at City, University of London in September.
When she's not writing or weaving, you can usually find Lara running, hiking, or indulging her love of gin on her food blog. For bylines and examples of her writing visit: lararhiannon.com