A physio-rehabilitation centre designed to enhance patient recovery and a project exploring the traditional weaving craft of the Li people in China's Hainan Province are included in Dezeen's latest school show by students at the Chelsea College of Arts.

Also featured is a textile installation referencing the importance of plants to a student during the coronavirus lockdown, and a textile project made out of discarded tea and Irish moss.

Chelsea College of Arts

School: Chelsea College of Arts

Courses: BA (Hons) Graphic Design Communication, BA (Hons) Fine Art, BA (Hons) Interior Design, BA (Hons) Textile, DesignBA (Hons) 3D Design (now BA (Hons) Product and Furniture Design at Chelsea College of Arts), Graduate Diploma Textile Design, Graduate Diploma Fine Art, Graduate Diploma Interior Design and Graduate Diploma Graphic Design

School statement:

"The challenges of the past year have brought Chelsea's global networks to the forefront of our students' experience.

"Working together with classmates and colleagues internationally, our artists and designers have developed complex creative responses to the social, cultural and political issues arising from uncertain circumstances.

"Chelsea College of Arts Graduate Showcase is the place to discover the newest names in art, communication and design. You can view work online at the Graduate Showcase website."

An Audition by Katie Beddoe

"Led by both historical and modern contexts, this is a playful film and photography project which works at the intersection between multiple creative crafts.

"Literature, textiles and dance interact to redesign the costumes of three Shakespearean characters. The project draws on not just their original forms, but later creations within ballet, film and popular culture."

Student: Katie Beddoe
Course: BA (Hons) Graphic Design Communication

Live Your Myth In Greece by Katerina Mimikou

"Join us in Greece, where all your dreams can come true! Experience the untold ancient myths, hang around with the gods and goddesses, visit the place where true democracy was born. Have some souvlaki, some tzatziki, some spanakopita! And ouzo! And let's break some plates.

"Many times these questions are asked: 'Why did you ever leave such a beautiful country?' and the much-heard phrase 'Stay abroad. Don't come back to Greece.'

"Live Your Myth In Greece is a project based on antithesis. The antithesis of dark and light, of what's advertised and happening in reality. The laughing and crying, the myth of a country and the real version, the intimacy and the impersonal.

"A project based on the crisis, personal and collective. It's a project about living in capitalism."

Student: Katerina Mimikou
Course: BA (Hons) Fine Art

The Immaterial Institute by Catrinel Visan

"The Immaterial Institute is a cultural centre placed in a hundred years' time in the socio-cultural context of a genderless community. The project analyses the influence that the lack of unconscious gender biases has on the built environment. It proposes an ultimate goal: the complete removal of prejudice, presenting a society in which everyone focuses on the importance of multiculturalism and communal living.

"The proposal is situated inside the present Fish and Coal Offices in King's Cross, utilizing the second and third units from East to West due to their higher visibility on site. The first section hosts a performance space where people are enabled to interact inside zero-gravity spheres.

"The second section of the building contains a sensory experience that awakens the five trivial human emotions at the ground floor, as a preparation for the cogitation journey placed on the first level through which people can experience the present or the past. The programme aims to challenge unconscious biases and promote the beauty of multiculturalism and communal living.

"The space is designed to adapt and evolve to the ever-changing needs of humans, the development of the space being organic within a fixed structure and following the queer architectural proposals whilst binding the aesthetics of binary spaces. The whole design pursues creating an unbiased world, just like the gender removal process aims to remove the sex preconceptions."

Student: Catrinel Visan
Course: BA (Hons) Interior Design

An Alternative Practice by Lora Aleksandrova

"I am concerned about the waste we as designers produce while working on a project. Even though the goal could be to create a sustainable object, the process still involves tests and models, which get thrown away and turn into waste.

"I wanted to change my practice through this project which is why I called it 'An Alternative Practice'. I was trying to create material out of discarded tea and carrageen (Irish moss). However, while working, I realised that sustainability is a tricky subject.

"And even sustainability leaves some footprint on the environment. After I came to that conclusion, my project switched direction. Rather than trying to create a practical object of the material, I wanted to show the fragility of sustainability.

"The background is an essential part of the piece. I used the pieces of paper which got stained during the drying of the material. They are a symbolic sign of the footprint of sustainable practice."

Student: Lora Aleksandrova
Course: BA (Hons) 3D Design (now BA (Hons) Product and Furniture Design at Chelsea College of Arts)

Inside the Greenhouse by Xianxuechun Xiao

"We have been forced into a controlled environment with a lack of connection to the physical world, a non-native environment. This change in circumstances forced me into implementing a safe space for myself, highlighting the safe space implemented for the plants within the greenhouse and terrariums. I wanted to highlight the feeling of being protected yet restricted and trapped at home.

"It is using symbolism, metaphor and imagination in the textile fine art form. My project engages with the plant matter and nature around me, expressing the frustrating miscellaneous attitudes about staying at home for safety, and desire for the outdoor and future.

"'Inside the Greenhouse' is a collection of 3D installations of textile art with mix-media embroidery. Using machine embroidery with water dissolvable fabric and drying it out as different uniques 3D forms to create unexpected 3D organic sculptures. The unique stitch techniques with fabric manipulation create both soft and intricate sculptures."

Student: Xianxuechun Xiao
Course: BA (Hons) Textile Design

A Contemporary Manifesto for Traditional Craft by Yifan Yang

"My project focuses on the traditional brocade weaving craft of the Li people in Hainan Province, China. Li brocade textiles are a living fossil in the history of Chinese textiles and represent the highest level of Li craftsmanship, covering three primary techniques: spinning, tie-dyeing and weaving.

"These are three works that relate to the traditional crafts of the Li people and are abstractly combined with contemporary art.

"The first two pieces provide a step-by-step interpretation of the traditional process of Li tie-dyeing. By deconstructing the methods of tie-tying and herb-dyeing, they abstract the process and then design the artworks that use contemporary abstract art techniques.

"In the video, images of the crafting process are reflected in the woven pieces, and this dynamic form of video is an independent statement of the traditional craft in the context of contemporary art. This transformation is a continuation and interpretation of traditional handicrafts in the language of contemporary art."

Student: Yifan Yang
Course: Graduate Diploma Textile Design

Broski by Joseph Ijoyemi

"My practice represents a critical view of social and cultural issues. I have deep interests in mental health, the Black Lives Matter Movement and Nigerian African culture.

"The inspiration for my work comes from my own life experience and through conversations with my community. I aim to tell a story. Each project usually consists of multiple works grouped around specific themes and meanings to create a series. A new piece of work usually stems from the personal research and key events in my life."

Student: Joseph Ijoyemi
Course: Graduate Diploma Fine Art

The Royal Brompton Hospital Physio-rehabilitation by Zainab Al-Rawi

"The Royal Brompton Hospital Physio-rehabilitation is designed to help patients engage with other patients with similar health issues.

"This is to exercise and enhance patient recovery by combining patients, patients' families and children in a playful atmosphere and help patients exercise confidently independently.

"This design is an environment-friendly and self-containing sculpture where most of the physiotherapy equipment is built-in."

Student: Zainab Al-Rawi
Course: Graduate Diploma Interior Design

Time Rebels by Thais Mota

"The manifesto was one of the essential tools for this project. Placing the Time Rebels' movement into the real world and defining its values guided me through the process. I designed participatory open-access workshops where each idea was formed from concepts mentioned in the movement's manifesto.

"I used different approaches – stamping, layering, filling spaces and drawing according to arbitrary instructions – to engage with the highlighted concepts."

Student: Thais Mota
Course: Graduate Diploma Graphic Design

Partnership content

This school show is a partnership between Dezeen and Chelsea College of Arts. Find out more about Dezeen partnership content here.