A new graduate show!

Last night was the opening of this years RMIT Diploma of Art graduate exhibition. I have been making a point of going each year. Usually I've known alot of the students, however, there were only a couple that I knew. It is always good to catch up with staff, some of whom are fellow graduates.

It is an interesting exhibition this year with an emphasis on the practical, rather than the pure art works. This probably reflects the changing staff. There was also not a huge amount of weaving, though, the future looks good with apparently some very good weavers still studying.

I did know the winner of the Studio Textiles prize, Lynne Johnstone, who has also been a long part-time student. Her work on display all used rust and she created some beautiful fabrics. I think I saw the germination of this process having dropped into a class where they were experimenting with rust. It's a fascinating process, full of the unexpected.

My other favourite, for its' subversiveness was a young man who screen printed the usual guns, skulls, etc. and then got his mother to make them up into a quilt. An ordinary, simple block quilt!

Alot of beautiful machine knitting and lots of cushions! It's always good to go this show, as I can feel inspired. Some disconcerting news is that next year it will be a Diploma of Textiles, Fashion and Clothing, rather than a Diploma of Art. This may definitely put a more Industry based take on the work and sadly lose the purely artistic.

I did manage to finish knitting my silk scarves, and weave the last woven memory hanging. Lots of work to be done on my textile pictures. The knitting machine should run hot!