Material Journeys at Manchester Craft & Design Centre

Manchester Craft & Design Centre celebrates the 17th annual Manchester Met Graduate Award winners with a brand new exhibition: Material Journeys.

Every year, the Centre chooses students whose work draws particular attention, with its ambition, potential and palpable excitement for the medium it’s created in. This time, the accolade was awarded to Marilou Turner, Ashley Knight and Thomas Radburn – BA (Hons) Product Design and Craft graduates whose work excelled at innovative use of traditional materials. 

Marilou Turner is a metalsmith, whose collection Weathered Vessels came from research about place-oriented design and the way that artefacts recovered from the ground can carry unique markings due to the chemical makeup of the soil. This is visualised using patination and its different types to create bold, vibrant colours on metallic surfaces. The vessels themselves are satisfyingly shaped using what appears to be sheets of metal, layered and wrapped around each other. They communicate a brief moment where the object is frozen in time with its markings and scars.

Ashley Knight is a ceramicist, specialising in hand-built ceramics one-off pieces created from stained clay. Her collection on display at Material Journeys emphasises the artist’s preference for never making the same thing twice. Each piece in Living Heirlooms is unique yet designed to collaborate with the other pieces perfectly in different variations. The pieces update the traditional idea of family heirlooms as objects passed down in the event of someone’s death and instead work as ‘living’ pieces, constantly in use and part of daily life.

Tom Radburn works with glass and the magical processes behind its creation. Similarly to Turner, he pays particular attention to place, and chooses to work with materials sourced from important and significant geological locations. This directly informs his use of colour and form while also keeping a close eye on reducing the impact on the environment. He gathers materials such as sand, plant ash and shells which are then processed to create beautiful, shimmering objects. Radburn’s key purpose is to question the use of traditional gemstones in jewellery by illustrating that more sustainable practices can result in similar qualities without ethical questions. 

This year’s graduates are undoubtedly talented and showcase impressive levels of innovation in their chosen material fields. Visit Material Journeys and admire creative young minds at work.