‘British-ish’ – at the V&A, 15 – 24 September 2011

University of the Arts London delivers some of the most challenging and innovative arts and design teaching in the UK and produces some of the country’s top designers from ceramicists and graphic artists to fashion designers and photo-journalists.

This exhibition is a celebration of inspiring new work from the University’s recent graduates, presenting designs that are distinctive in character but united by their formation in the crucible of British design education. Guest curator Giles Deacon selected designers whose humour, personality, innovation and skill marked them out from the crowd. Their work will be placed among existing exhibits in the V&A’s British Galleries as part of the London Design Festival celebrations.

These 2 pieces by Camberwell College of Arts graduates will feature in the show.

Top: ‘The P Project’ – Chieh Ting Huang (MA Designer Maker)

‘The P Project’ was drawn from the symbolism associated with lanterns in the cultures of the East and West. In common with Oriental lanterns, the inner section consists primarily of paper and wood.

The shape refers to industrial and marine lamps of the pre-war British Royal Navy and late 19th century factory lamp fittings. The etymology of ‘lantern’ shows the word to be derived from the concept of protecting the fragile light within. This project also explores notions of artistic freedom and how one can protect it.

Bottom: ‘Sweet Honest’ – Joanna Mires (BA Ceramics)

Joanna Mires’s work explores nostalgia, collection and ownership through recast Avon scent bottles from early 1970s. ‘Sweet Honesty’ is the name of the perfume held in the donkey shaped bottle.

Ornaments, familiar objects made from glass and ceramic, often outlive their owners. Mires values discarded collections, forcing the viewer to contemplate the identity of the owner through their personal experience of collecting. It is crucial to her work that the objects have been previously owned, once cherished items.