15 new makers have joined the Cockpit community so far this year. Here are the NEW FACES you need to know about as you plan your visit to Summer Open Studios, from textile artists to jewellers to woodturners, glass artists and more.
Be sure to check out their maker profiles, subscribe to their mailing lists, and follow them on social media. It’s time to discover your new favourite Cockpit maker!
Chloé Rochefort joined Cockpit on the 2023 Make It Award. Chloe is a textile artist, focused on heritage projects and community engagement through large-scale installations and sculptures. Through her work, she tackles themes of mental health, pride of place and social integration, exploring how creativity and interaction with textiles can serve as an act of self-care.
Claire de Waard
Claire de Waard joined Cockpit on the 2023 Broderers’ Award. Claire is a hand embroidery designer specialising in working with natural fibres such as straw and raffia. Her practice is driven by the understanding of traditional textile and craft disciplines, which comes to life in a collection of jewellery items as well as ongoing samples for the luxury fashion market.
Dave Evers joined Cockpit on the 2023 Turners’ Award. Designing and making in small batches, Dave creates his unique one-off wood pieces utilising both traditional and contemporary methods of making. Placing value on a high level of hand skill and attention to detail, he favours the use of unseasoned wood, material in its rawest form. Passionate about safeguarding and transmitting skills, Dave is a member of the Heritage Crafts Association and an educator.
Helen Brough is a multimedia landscape artist currently working in glass and aluminium. Her process involves painting the glass and firing it in a kiln before illuminating the works to produce three dimensional landscape light pieces. Helen’s work has been exhibited across the UK, Europe, the USA, Korea and Taiwan and can be found in numerous corporate and museum collections.
Nicci James joined Cockpit on the 2023 Haberdashers’ Award. She is a knitwear designer using the power of wool to challenge the need for synthetics in fashion and textiles. By harnessing wool’s natural ability to felt through the knitting process, Nicci’s innovative method engineers strength directly into a garment or fabric, exactly where it’s needed. Her creations have won awards for Circular Design from Fashion District and been showcased by the Crafts Council.
Nyanda Nekwai
Nyanda Yekwai is a multidisciplinary artist and the founder of Soul Visionary Jewels. Known for her meticulous craftsmanship coupled with an innovative aesthetic, Nyanda creates wearable art representative of her love for the organic form and voiced through minimalistic design. Her evolving collection consists of unique rings, earrings, necklaces, and bangles, and you may have seen her on BBC’s All That Glitters and Make it at Market.
Woo Jin Joo joined Cockpit on the 2023 Bagri Craft Award. She is a mixed-media artist specialising in soft sculpture and textiles. Through embroidery, she transforms found and old objects, subverting them as a means to engage in the discourse around climate justice, capitalism, and more generative ways of living, taking cues from traditional East Asian folklore, mythology and philosophy to explore storytelling in a new way.
—
Read Part 2 of NEW FACES: JAN-MAR 2024.
Explore the directory of Cockpit makers here.
