The CoFA ANNUAL is the yearly exhibition of the works produced by (some of) its graduating students. It is a celebration of the blood, sweat and tears that were sacrificed and devoted to our craft as designers and artists. For my designer friends and I, this exhibition marked four years of neurosis and creative energy. For me, this is the defining moment before I embark on a new chapter in my life. 

I just had to sneak in a quintessential outfit post/self-portrait/reflection image in this post. As expected, the artistes and designers entered the event in their own unique styles. It was a lot of colour and excitement. (And with every celebration, there was more than enough alcohol to go around…)

This year’s exhibition was a far cry from the creative spew of sculpture that rested in the center of the Roundhouse last year. What made this year even more special was the fact that I was exhibiting with a lot of my close friends. It was quite emotional.  

Lachlan and Annie designed the most amazing textile prints for our major projects last semester. These two also endured the trials and tribulations of Honours with me. They’ll be famous someday. 

The lovely Kate designed amazing footwear. Her project was among my favourites when we worked on our major projects. She’s immensely talented. 

Monique is an amazing designer as well. She’s always had immensely good concepts and has a knack for combining creativity with intelligence. Yet another name to look out for. 

And here is my wall! I am quite pleased with how it turned out. I used the “less is more” mentality. The layout was as minimalist as my portfolio’s layout. 

Isabelle and Nicole. I love these girls to bits! They were inspired by kale (Issy) and their trips overseas (Nic). I’m immensely biased, so I’ll just save the accolades for when we next meet. Which is soon, I hope. 

Samara went to Japan with me. I loved her project, which has feminist undertones and a whimsical element to it. Would you believe that she spent three months or so spinning wool?

And Chris. I’ve been an admirer of his talent from the moment we started talking. He is a storyteller (and an amazing one at that!) He spent months developing these prints, as well as an application that presents an interactive, augmented reality to the viewer.

This work was created using push pins… and refers to the labour-intensive (and dying) art of making lace by hand. 

My mum and I also admired this artwork, which reminded us of Murano glass. 

The Annual was a brilliant success (again, I may be biased…) and it would be lovely if you can enjoy the experience as well. The exhibition is open until Wednesday, 28th of November 2012 at the Roundhouse, UNSW. 

Well done everyone. All of the hard work has finally paid off. 

As I am a part of the graduating class that featured in the 2012 CoFA Annual, my works were also featured on the Annual website. These works are only the tip of the iceberg and are among my favourites. 

The website can be accessed from here

I apologise for neglecting this space. I’ve just been immensely busy with the final stretch of my university career… but that doesn’t mean that I’ve stopped being creative in my spare time. Whilst my friends from work demonstrate amazing talent with their musical ability, I on the other hand have rekindled my relationship with my watercolours and my paintbrushes. I’ve also had a slight obsession with painting sunflowers. I blame the Medici family for this. The works that they had collected throughout the Renaissance included a lot of amazing botanical pieces. I was impressed!

So, this is a design that I created over the past couple of weeks. It is meant to be for bedspreads and pillowcases. 

This second one is the striped coordinate. 

It would be lovely to see them rendered in soft Egyptian cotton. 

And here are some progress shots. I’ve missed creating hand-rendered works. And sunflowers make me smile. They’re pretty. 

Late nights and endless panic attacks later… I ended up creating a collection of garments for my major project. As you can probably tell, I’m trying to weasel my way out of finalising the administrative things, but it isn’t working very well. 

The garments look different when worn. But I rather like how they look against red brick. 

I designed the textiles and got them printed on organic cotton knit. I also designed the basic silhouette and made each garment by hand. I feel rather proud of my efforts. But, in the end I believe that I preferred designing the textiles. 

Just taking a bit of a break from my major project, so I can develop my portfolio. 

Even though I had created a portfolio last year, I believe that my new one is more suited to my aesthetic. It is remarkably more simple and minimalist than the one I previously. 

I seem to enjoy using the self-portrait that I took earlier this year. I like that kind of photography- creamy white walls, with the emphasis on the face. 

More designs coming up really soon, so watch this space! 

It was a wonderful evening of plum wine, Asahi beer, sushi, art and friends. The exhibition was a large success, based on the hard work that every single artist placed. I loved the diversity of the works, as well as the maintenance of the Japanese aesthetic. I am not biased… not at all! I am immensely honoured to have worked with every single person who was a part of the exhibition. 

I designed the invitations for the exhibition. It is one of the things that I am proud of. The simple design was inspired by the Japanese aesthetic and also the kanji for healing, which alludes to the public artwork that we created in Chikatsuyu, Japan.

Patrick and Justin… bits and pieces from their series of photographs. Talented photographers in their own right- I wish I had their eye for detail!

Tarekgeorge is a talented artist. Watch this space. He will be amazing. You can peruse his site here. Prepare to be amazed by sheer talent!

Rachel did such an amazing job with her pilgrim pack. This girl is such a talented designer! 

Nicola’s jewellery pieces were stunning! I loved her concept and also her finished range. 

Imagine my glee when people looked at my work. 

Jane’s work was simply gorgeous! It reminded me of black tulle skirts, fashion and sculpture. 

The people who go to my Campus have amazing style. 

Special guests also attended the exhibition. Professor Kumi Kato, Simon Wearne, the Japanese Consul and the president of Choya Umeshu graced us with their presence. I was glad to see Kumi and Simon again. Words can’t describe it. 

The exhibition is open at Kudos Gallery until Saturday afternoon. If you have the chance, please visit. It is worth it! 

The ENVIRONMENT & SPIRITUALITY exhibition that was held at Kudos Gallery was featured in Annette WIlson’s photographic journal. She captured the experience through her photographs. Her journal is available here. 

This is one of the candid shots that she took of me. I was taking photos of the whole exhibition, so I didn’t get a chance to ask someone to take photos of me. It was an amazing night! Thanks for capturing the moment Annette. 

Being sick prior to a presentation seems to be the recurring trend this semester. Still, I thank my lucky stars that I’ve done a lot of background work. Even though those 3am bedtimes are threatening to kill me, I know that in the end it will be worth it. 

These are just a few samples of my fashion illustration attempts for my project. I think that it’s very crude, but you get the gist. I used Fashionary’s templates, just because they made design development a lot more efficient. 

So, what do you think? 

Designing never ends- not even when one is feeling like death warmed over. Even while coughing my lungs out (please excuse the visual), I was attempting to complete some visual research for my project. I was also being a fanatic. Julie Taymor is an inspirational designer/director/creative person. I would love, love, love to meet her in person. Julie is the director/designer for The Lion King Broadway musical. She also did a lot of her own works- mostly involving puppetry. 

I felt most productive, even when my sketches looked like something inspired by scientific diagrams and the like. These are sketches of the layers of our skin, based on diagrams I saw online. It’s fascinating. 

I also thought I might use some eco-dye experiments, to see the potential of layering and textures. I love the colour, which can be attributed to boiled onion skins. 

Another day.