The aim of this project is to explore free-flowing texture, based on the tactile and visual properties of shells and pearls, in order to design knitted three-dimensional textile surfaces for a body and interior context.
This work places itself in the field of knitted textile design and the context of body and interior. The primary motive is to investigate the tactile and visual properties of oysters and pearls, inspired by Botticelli’s painting The Birth of Venus. The aim is to explore free-flowing texture through knitted three-dimensional textile surfaces.
Material and colour choices have been made based on the source of inspiration, the oyster, and investigated on industrial circle knit and flat knit machines. The circle knit expression has been explored from a hand-knitting perspective, using the manual elements to push the machine’s technique to design new expressions. The result of the project is a collection that has four suggestions for a knitted, three-dimensional surface, each inspired and developed from one specific part of the oyster; the shell, the nacre, the flesh, and the pearl.
This work investigates the potential of using circle knit machines, commonly used in fast fashion for bulk production, as a tool for handicrafts and higher art forms. The final collection pushes the conversation regarding the future uses of knitting machines and investigates how rigid objects can be expressed through the flexible structure.
