Materials Craft and Culture
This week we’re highlighting some of our favourite graduate pieces featured for Mint’s LDF16 exhibition, White Canvas.
Each of the graduates, Tessa Silva Dawson, Chloé Valorso and Mi Zhang, have taken materials, craft, and culture to create inspired collections.
Continue reading to see more…
Tessa Silva Dawson
Protein © Tessa Silva Dawson
A recent graduate from the Design Products course at the Royal College of Art, Tessa Silva Dawson is a designer-maker based in London, with an interest in materials, craft, and culture.
Her graduating project, Protein, involved in depth material experimentation with a hands-on approach to design. Tessa explored methods of processing the protein (casein) extracted from cow’s milk as a completely natural alternative to oil-based polymers, utilizing surplus milk from the UK dairy industry to produce objects for functional use.
Skimmed milk is routinely wasted in large quantities at raw dairy farms in the UK due to the separation process required to make butter and cream.
Protein © Tessa Silva Dawson
The project therefore does not suggest a mass increase in dairy production, but instead proposes the use of a commonly wasted and widely available raw material. 
Protein Tables © Tessa Silva Dawson
Not only can it be treated as a commercial thermoplastic allowing for compression moulding, injection moulding, etc, it can also be hand sculpted for a more crafted and organic alternative to other plastics.
Protein at Mint White Canvas LDF17 © Inge Clemente
Chloé Valorso
Enamelled Plastron © Chloe Valorso
A recent Jewellery Design graduate from Central Saint Martin’s, Chloé Valorso considers herself as a cryptozoologist jewellery designer – consisting of an interdisciplinary approach: Like an anthropologist, Chloé collects objects and researches extensively, recording sketches and experimentations through various sketchbooks. With both a methodical and imaginative approach to her work, she references contemporary and ancient art and artefacts, but also psychology and mythology.
Pearl Aye Aye & Pearl Smile © Chloe Valorso
As a designer, Chloé “seeks to unravel the mysteries and create a new meaning”.
Chloé Valorso’s collection takes inspiration from aspects of existing mythologies to create her own belief system. Using her alter ego “Bob” as a recurring motif throughout her work, Chloé explores the importance of narrative and challenges the boundaries between real and unreal.
Bone & Shells Necklace – cattle bone, shells, cotton thread © Chloe Valorso
Each piece has been sensitively crafted from natural materials drawn from Chloé’s own highly personal miscellany. The pieces act as amulets that empower the wearer through their compelling symbolic qualities and deep sense of history – an essential component in this innovative interpretation of mythology.
Mint White Canvas LDF17 © Inge Clemente
Mi Zhang
Mi is a recent Material Futures graduate from Central Saint Martins. Material Futures is a two-year Masters course dedicated to exploring how we will live in the future through trans-disciplinary practice and expert collaboration. Through collaboration, risk-taking and blurring the boundaries between craft, science and technology we aim to look beyond existing disciplines to anticipate our future needs, desires and challenges for the 21st century.
Quyang Town © Mi Zhang
Quyang Town, also known as “The Town of Sculpture” is one of the largest quarries and stone working industries in China. Mi Zhang’s Mining Dust, strives to ‘improve air quality through dust collection’. The area generates prolific amounts of dust, which has a detrimental effect on air quality and people’s health, not just in the quarry itself, but also in the surrounding towns and villages.
© Mi Zhang
Mi combined the marble dust, pine resin and natural local pigments, to engineer a very tough yet fully biodegradable material that can be utilised by local makers, industries and communities whilst also improving overall air quality.
Mining Dust © Tom Mannion
Mint White Canvas LDF17 © Inge Clemente