The Hamewares New Perspectives Commission was launched to give our Scottish creative sector an opportunity to respond to the current consumption model in context to craft. Many creatives are currently challenging how they work with materials especially with COP26 on our horizon.

We have selected two designers whose values align with us at the Barn and who champion design principles that advocate for the natural world.

We are very pleased to announce the two recipients that have been awarded the commission:

• Sarah Diver Lang
• Rebecca Jane Kaye of Ploterre

ABOUT EACH DESIGNER

Sarah Diver Lang is a Glasgow based textiles designer who creates work celebrating traditional craft practices and design heritage. Sarah’s design thinking is strongly influenced by her experience gained as a recipient of the QEST 2020 Building Arts Program in collaboration with the Prince’s Foundation. She aims to respond to the Barn’s heritage by creating a series of products incorporating natural inks, dyes and hemp. Sarah will create motif’s inspired by our gardens, buildings and sense of place. After recently visiting the Barn she was able to take away various plants, images and drawings to inform her work. Sarah strives to create products that people value as a result of their context to place and story.

Rebecca Jane Kaye’s practice stems from a passion for the natural world, mathematics and environmental data. Based in Edinburgh, Rebecca has worked in both information and design roles for the last two decades. In response to the brief, Rebecca has proposed a ‘natura blanket’ using data taken from the European Natura Dataset which describes specially protected areas in Scotland. The data will translate into a design of squares, vertical and horizontal lines all of which represent marine and terrestrial sites deemed to require protection. The blanket itself aims to become an environment of its own which hopefully will inspire curiosity about our environment. Rebecca refers to the woven work of textile artist Anni Albers as a source of inspiration for this design concept.

We are really excited about this announcement and will look forward to sharing images of progress through our social media channels.

Once created, these unique commissioned products will be available to buy in FOLD Craft & Design Store at the Barn.

FOLD Opening hours are Thursday – Saturday 12pm – 4pm.

FOLD Craft & Design Store @ the Barn, Banchory, Aberdeenshire