Domesticity, wallpaper, miniature rooms, family photographs, 70’s tv static, knitted chevrons, dinnerware plate patterns, 70s string art on the walls, granny crochet, tweed blankets, ribbon bows, ornaments, childhood toys, waves of nostalgia, shag rug, the iconic carpets in The Shining.
‘I customised a 1970s dolls house, covering the walls in tape, drawings, and family photos, creating carpets and sourcing vintage furniture to create my own interior emotionally charged world, a hazy house of Matty Bovan; one-part 1970s, one part future craft.
‘If my previous collection (Odyssey) was about being in the extremities of nature, HYPERCRAFT is very much about being locked away in a personal, interior world. Handicraft has been pushed even further with each piece being laboured on extensively.
‘HYPERCRAFT’s essence finds me pushing myself, culling my own knowledge, and skills of craft to an extreme. This ethos includes creating 3 large looks out of sewn paracord ropes, creating a completely new textile with its own uniquely sculptural body, and then hand-embellishing with beads and sequins to create a new luxe, with the organic silhouette threatening to overtake the human form.
‘Customising Sun Jellies bags, I utilised paracord, weaving it through their open design to transform them into more evocative items. I hand dyed UGG lambswool shoes and slippers, slashing their classic mini UGG boot open, to create a house shoe, the perfect fit for my characters to explore their rooms. I also worked with Vibram and their classic five finger shoes, hand sewing sequins and bows, to combine both true utility and frivolous decoration. Heart-shaped sunglasses from Cutler and Gross help convey my character’s sense of mystique, yet saccharine, with a knowing wink.
‘Sourcing began with vintage Sanderson 1970s furnishing fabrics, which include giant poppies and pastel flowers with woodland animals. These became cut-out trousers and small-scale kilts. Knits are created in jacquards of lambswool and Lurex, featuring artwork with a beloved childhood cat teddy bear of mine, (Douglas), alongside small animal ornaments I collected and photographed. Hand-drawn chevrons were scanned and programmed into a knitwear pattern, forming an evocative symbol of the 1970s shifting and entering my world. I also worked with a local hand knitter to help create additional chevrons which have then been hand sewn onto nude tulle bases.
‘Deadstock tweed of differing textures and patterns made in the UK feature in the tailoring, open-sided jackets with ties, and small-scale kilts, with each one being made in a unique combination of tweeds for production, with vintage buttons sourced in York.
‘I had my own family photos exposed onto screens, to then screen print textiles. These include a photo of my mum as a teenager, and a photo of three generations of my family together. These were also used in the sets and hung on the walls. I was lucky enough to be taught crochet by my grandmother, Joan, when I was a teenager, and I knew I wanted to bring in ‘granny crochet,’ but subverted to a place where people would not expect to see it. In this case, a large umbrella shape of metal boning, tulle and hand crochet. Smaller crocheted squares also feature in neon, heavily textured, glitter yarns over large billowing tulle.
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