Story by Diane Sparks
Graduate students in the Department of Design and Merchandising will display their original textile designs in a new exhibit, The View from Here: Graduate Work in Digital Textile Design, to debut on Wednesday, May 2, in Colorado State University’s Gustafson Gallery.
The original textile designs featured in the exhibit are intended to stimulate the visual senses, and elicit conversation among gallery viewers. Inspiration for the designs is wide-ranging and comes from an interesting array of sources.
Some students chose themes from the environment and nature, including concerns related to water pollution and disappearance of species due to global warming, images from galaxies in deep stellar space, lichen as inspiration for print designs in women’s athletic clothing, and the impermanence of life in the context of meditation.
Students also found inspiration in New York City subway mosaics, Moroccan-inspired prints for children’s clothing, iconic images of bygone celebrities, and images of women running in high heels.
Each of the textile designs was printed on silk or nylon Lycra spandex using state-of-the-art digital textile printing technology. Color is a focal point in the exhibition, both from the perspective of interactive figure-ground relationships, and as an aspect of digital design technology.
Textile design provides a unique window through which to experience the dynamics of color, pattern, and variety in approaches to aesthetic beauty. In creating new designs for the exhibition, each student researched a specific product area and intended consumer, then generated a minimum of 12 textile designs using a distinctive source of inspiration.
Exhibit opens with reception
The exhibit opens Wednesday, May 2, with a reception from 5 to 7 p.m. The student designers will be in attendance to interact with gallery viewers about their work.
The Gustafson Gallery is located in room 318 of the Gifford Building at 502 West Lake Street. Hours are from 9 a.m. to 4p.m., Monday – Friday. Admission is free. The exhibit runs through Sept. 14.
The Gustafson Gallery is under the umbrella of the Avenir Museum of Design and Merchandising, part of the Department of Design and Merchandising in CSU’s College of Health and Human Sciences.
