BRADHLY LE, REBECCA HEALD, JADE NOTTAGE, VICTORIA CYBULSKI, JAMES HARGRAVES and CAROLINE YUEN begin to ……. EVOLVE

Congratulations to BRADHLY LE, REBECCA HEALD,  JADE NOTTAGE, VICTORIA CYBULSKI, JAMES HARGRAVES and CAROLINE YUEN for becoming finalist for the 2012 Evolve design awards and becoming part of the Designer Rugs ID collection. Judged by iconic Australian design and taste leaders Meryl Hare, Greg Natale and Stephen Ormandy whom were seeking designs that embraced innovation and originality.  Below we share the starting point behind the top 6 designs to be hand tufted into rugs and presented at the Evolve Awards on November 21st 2012.

Below – ESCAPE by BRADHLY LE .We “escape” to seek a better outcome, we “escape” to seek a better life. This rug is a depiction of my family’s escape from Vietnam, setting sail from the Mekong Delta, and crossing a vast ocean in search of a better life…

Below WAIRAU by REBECCA HEALD – My partner is a pilot and when living in Nelson we often went flying through the mountains.  The aerial landscapes of the Wairau Valley informed the geometry and colours of this design.

Below DYNAMIC GEOMETRY by JADE NOTTAGE – This rug design is an exploration of geometry, colour and form, which are integral parts of design across all mediums. The rug design takes the humble rectangle and explores the impact of small transformations.  Experimenting with negative space, directional cuts and tonal changes creates a sense of movement within a two dimensional image.   Cut pile finish will give a sharper edge to the shapes, which is important for this type of geometric design.

Below WATTLE BLOOMS AT DUSK by VICTORIA CYBULSKI – ” Let me slumber in the hollow where the wattle blossoms wave….” I have always had a fascination with the Australian landscape. When viewed in different light and season the same terrain is transformed time and again. Wattle-scented dusks in Spring are so distinctly Australian and are the inspiration for this rug design. I have tried to capture that moment as the sun sets, where, with the last light of the day, the blossoms are abstracted against the soft grey.

Below – Interior design principally involves spatial manipulation and composition. Yet, Einstein demonstrated the spatial cannot be divorced from the temporal: they are coupled together in the fabric of space-time. The architectural and cultural theorist Paul Virillo characterises our time as defined by the field distortions of a media landscape traversed at light-speed. In his words: “The speed of light does not merely transform the world. It becomes the world.”  As designers, we are obliged to contribute to a visual/formal language that is relevant to the contemporary condition and currency of ideas. As the rug’s title suggest, the design is inspired by the dream of superluminal travel and time dilation

Below CONNECTED by CAROLINE YUEN – ‘Connected’ is a rug design which was inspired by Lighting, Art, Sculpture, Multi-Media, Architecture, Interior Design and Fashion where in today’s society all these design disciplines are starting to be read as one entity. For example, we see the Architecture language of a building with multi -faceted facades echoed in the design of a light pendant. The rug design demonstrates a connectivity with the arms or branches linking, inter-weaving and reaching out to infinity beyond the limitations of the rug size. This is reflective of what we are seeing in the various disciplines in our world of design. I also like how there is no definitive end to the design and any part of the rug design could be ‘captured’ and enlarged thus creating a new unexpected view of the rug.

To find out more visit EVOLVE