3rd Place Winner

Rhona Millar is a recent Textile Design (Embroidery) graduate from Glasgow School of Art. She is inspired by details in nature, architecture and stately home decorative plasterwork.

Translating details into 3D relief drawings allows her to work through the creative process, before transforming ideas into exquisite hand embroidered textile artworks.

The inspiration behind Rhona’s textile artwork ‘Fragile Details’ came from visiting Scottish stately homes and gardens such as Pollock House, Newhailes House and Mount Stuart House. Inspired by the historical interiors, elaborate plasterwork, tiled flooring, and formal gardens, she sought to reimagine these intricate details in new transformative ways.

Aiming to capture these elements in her final piece as if they are hanging, gives thoughts to the fall, decline of traditional craftsmanship of the historical era, to the optimism through the white colour palette to the craftsmanship of the future.

Fragile Details is inspired by the ornate plasterwork, elaborate ceilings, and intricate tiled floors, found within the historical architecture of stately homes and gardens in Scotland. Initially, visual research was gathered from Pollock House, Newhailes House, Mount Stuart House and Holmhead House. Rhona found she was interested in the decay, restoration and historic references of these homes, such as the well-trodden yet pristine floor tiles at Mount Stuart House. Seeking to reinterpret these details in new transformative ways, led her to experiment primarily with drawing and creating three-dimensional paper components capturing form and structure.

Progressing her work forwards, Rhona then sought to reimagine and rewrite these historical details through hand embroidered iterations. She began creating separate three-dimensional elements, before collaging them together to create a larger piece of textile art, placing them in a chaotic, layered fashion on the stitched background of second-hand leather. Fragile Details aims to capture the plasterwork elements and details as if they are hanging, giving thoughts to the fall, decline of traditional craftsmanship of the historical era, to the optimism through the white colour palette to the craftsmanship of the future.