Above: Claire’s winning collars Below: Claire Baker working on her designs
CCAD lecturer Claire Baker using the college’s state of the art laser cutting machine on which she created some of her prize winning designs
A NORTH EAST designer has taken on artists from across the globe to win an acclaimed international art award.
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LAIRE Baker, a lecturer in surface design and applied arts at Cleveland College of Art & Design, has been named as the winner of the prestigious Acquisition Award at the Contemporary Textile Art Triennial exhibition, Contextile 2012, in Guimaraes, Portugal. One of only 53 artists, chosen from over 500 entries worldwide, Claire’s exhibit ‘built up broken down’, was an artistic interpretation and redesign of 1950s collars, given a contemporary modern look. Her work won her the overall first prize of 3,000 Euros. Claire’s exhibit of nine collars, some of which were found in an antique shop in Barnard Castle, combined her love of using traditional and modern techniques. These include hand embroidery and laser cutting along with materials such as wood and plastic to create a fine art concept which could be
worn as a fashion accessory or displayed as wall art. “To have my work chosen to be exhibited from so many entries was enough for me,” said Claire, of Stockton. “I never even gave a thought to winning so I was more than a bit stunned when I got an e-mail telling me that that I had been awarded the acquisition prize. “For a UK artist from a North East art college to win an international design competition really puts us on the map,” she said. “CCAD was fantastic in helping me with the funding to courier my work over to Portugal. I may use some of my prize money to fly over and see it before the exhibition ends in October. “I’m always encouraging my students to enter competitions so I hope that my success will spur them on in the future.” For further information on courses at CCAD call 01642 288888.