2008 Awardee: Katherine Brown
This is a really exciting time for me, and I look forward to letting the Dewar Award trustees know and see how this internship shall shape my career.
Biography
Edinburgh-born Katherine studied textile design at Duncan of Jordanstone Art College, in Dundee. She specialised in knitwear design and says of her knitting that “as well as wearable, [it] is also conceptual. Involving storage and folding concepts it is very structural and matches very well with Bless’s aim at ‘designing the perfect product’”.
In her final year at art college, Katherine was seen to find her own voice and technique to express her perception of design through textiles. She approached her studies with maturity, intelligence and wit as her confidence grew in her chosen field.
Katherine set her heart on working for BLESS, considered to be a cutting-edge European design company and secured a 3-month unpaid internship with them through her own efforts. Spending time in their studios will enable her to broaden her professional design understanding.
Katherine also exhibited her work at the 2008 BraveArt (now entitled, ROAR).
How the Award Helped
The Dewar Arts Award is helping towards the short internship with the Berlin-based international design company, BLESS.
Since the Award
As an intern, Katherine did a lot of running around for her BLESS colleagues to source materials for the collection being worked on for Paris Fashion Week. Because they knew of her passion for knitting, they asked Katherine to handknit some of their designs. Some months after she returned to Glasgow, Katherine was thrilled to see one of her handknitted pieces in a fashion magazine. She is now back in Glasgow working on a new collection. Katherine writes, “BLESS was an invaluable experience that has already started to shape my career.”
Katherine’s work was showcased in our 10th Anniversary Exhibition, Roots to Shoots. Find out more here.
A short film from Katherine, which formed part of our 10th Anniversary Exhibition: Roots to Shoots.
Knit One, Kill One is “a humorous exploration of an inner torment and love-hate relationship with knitting. Katherine Brown showcases her Masters’ Collection inspired by cult TV series Twin Peaks in a short film, which plays with the idea that knitters and serial killers share behavioural patterns.”
This is a really exciting time for me, and I look forward to letting the Dewar Award trustees know and see how this internship shall shape my career.