Design Crafts
‘Matter’ Graduate show 2024
Design Crafts gives students the opportunity to learn the creative 3D-making skills they need to work professionally with glass, ceramics, and jewellery. Our students discover their creative voice while developing traditional hand-making skills and contemporary approaches such as laser waterjet cutting and 3D printing.
The programme offers a diverse range of material and process practices, including ceramics, cold and kiln-formed glass processes, wood, metal, plastics, fibre glass and resins, textiles, jewellery, mould making, laser and waterjet cutting, CAD/CAM, 3D printing and scanning. This sits alongside theory, digital, professional and enterprise skills ready for the creative industries beyond graduation.
This year’s graduating cohort have explored a wide range of processes and have specialised in ceramics, stained glass, cast glass, jewellery, mixed media and even wearable augmented reality.
Matter: Material matters. Craft matters. You matter.
Congratulations to the year of 2024, it has been our pleasure to work with you.
Staff Team
BA(Hons) Design Crafts
Class of '24
Our Experience
About Us
My collection of work, taking stylistic inspiration from the Victorian Arts and Crafts movement, is a reflection on how Britain has transformed and diversified over the last two centuries. The imagery was influenced by traditional British textiles such as flannel and patchwork quilting as well as textiles that have been brought to Britain from afar, such as delicately embroidered saris or traditionally printed African fabrics.
Alongside this, the details in my design allude to cultural symbolism from across my hometown Birmingham, including religious buildings and modern cultural artwork. The triptych uses the patchwork quilt as a metaphor for the patchwork of cultures that make up a modern, ethnic, religious, and LGBT+ diverse nation. The image of the draped tartan, a traditionally British fabric, alludes to how these identities are the fibres that weave together to make our nation, which is constantly shifting and growing.
After I leave Swansea I plan to start my own stained glass business, working on bold and unique commissions for clients with a modern aesthetic. 
- Email charis.c.stainedglass@gmail.com
My major project, “Biblically Accurate Tea Set†explores the interplay between my culture, tradition, religion and identity. Its form, while non-functional in a conventional sense, invites introspection, mirroring the complexity of identity in face of influences and persuasions of the majority.
Working with porcelain, the tea set features lustres as well as oxide painted details in reflection of Polish folk art. I aim to further my exploration and representation of culture in a contemporary sense in my further ceramic work. Going forward, I plan to continue making functional and non-functional pieces which will inspire thought and conversation.
- Email high.tide.studio.ceramics@gmail.com
Diane is a designer maker from Wales and owner of ‘At the edge of the sea…’
Born in North Wales, she has spent much of the last two decades in South Wales; it is the dramatic and contrasting landscapes of this coastal nation that have been a continued inspiration for her work.
Her career and education have previously focused on wellbeing and supporting those with barriers to learning, in addition to studying Astrology, Parapsychology and ‘Japanese Holistic Healing Practitioner’. These combined influences impact on her practice and drive research into spiritual wellbeing through our connection with the sea. The wellbeing of our planet is also an important factor and she strives to remain aware of current environmental issues and to adopt sustainable practices.
Diane explores these themes in a contemporary craft setting through a selection of materials. Material preferences include glass, copper, pewter, and enamels; preferred techniques are traditional hand-cutting, mould-making, sandblasting, and casting. Whilst preferring to adopt and promote these traditional processes, Diane has embraced the assistance of technology in selected projects and has experimented with photographic decals, 3D print, laser engraving and waterjet cutting.
My major project is called ‘Parallels and Addresses: stereotypes and how harmful and limiting they can be’. I create ceramic sculptures depicting animals with human traits and emotions often with illustrative decoration. I work with stoneware clay that can be moulded and carved by hand to reveal the animals that are hiding within. Underglazes provide colour and a means to add illustrations to my pieces.
The narratives of my work are inspired by my own lived experience as a transgender man touching on themes of dysphoria, acceptance, love, yearning and freedom of expression. Neurodivergence influences every piece I make, using my sculptures to spark understanding and help others see the unique outlook of autistic individuals. My artwork is for anyone who wants a unique piece, be that for galleries, collectors or just for the home!
- Email Wynpipceramics@gmail.com
I work with kiln casting to explore the materiality of glass through a textile lens. Using fabric manipulation techniques such as smocking and gathering, I have developed my own processes to translate textiles into glass, allowing me to explore the interplay between opposing material qualities – soft and hard, transparent and opaque, fragile and robust.
Working with both the natural drape of fabric and the constraints of casting, I enjoy allowing my sculptural forms to arise spontaneously during the making process, resulting in an eclectic mix of shapes with aesthetic links to geology, confectionary, and bodily forms. The cultural histories of stitching imbue my work with conceptual themes of femininity, women’s work, historical fashion and nostalgia, which reflect my own personal interests and research.
Oliwia Kaczmarek is a contemporary jewellery designer, specialising in mixed reality and augmented reality jewellery. Pushing the boundaries between the real and digital, Oliwia’s work poses the question ‘can reality expand past the point of physical?’
Oliwia’s work is heavily inspired by the limitless potential of the future of jewellery in a technology-driven society.
With an uncertain future, and resources becoming more limited, the one constant that remains is the advancement of technology. The origins of traditional jewellery making will need to evolve in order to survive. 
My artistic journey revolves around exploring the intricate interplay between light, colour, and psychology, all through the fascinating medium of glass. I work in a conceptual way, I am intrigued by the sensory and psychological aspects of art, exploring themes of memory, identity, loss, and the senses, these are the driving factors behind my creative endeavours. My practice encompasses a diverse range of glass techniques, from screen printing and sandblasting to fusing and polishing, theses allow for detailed imagery and layering, creating depth and new perception in 2D glass. I also incorporate digital practices, using them to enhance my designs and improve my practical techniques.
By combining digital skill I seamlessly blend my core themes with innovative craftsmanship. The vibrant interplay of light and colour within glass offers endless possibilities for artistic expression. Through ongoing experimentation, I strive to create pieces that captivate viewers, inviting them into a sensory experience that mirrors my fascination with this dynamic medium. Glass is constantly in flux, its fragility and strength drawing me into its complexities and pushing the limits of my craft. My work is an ever-evolving journey, revealing new dimensions and opportunities in the world of glass art.
An artist and maker currently exploring the potentials of smoke fired ceramics. This is an exciting and unpredictable firing process, that always produces surprises and wonder – even if things go ‘wrong’. Every firing is an event!
Inspiration comes from looking at the more primitive ways of making, and an interest in the magic of the natural world. I have been lucky enough to live in some beautiful parts of the UK, and some of these places are termed as ‘thin places’. They are elemental places where you feel the presence of nature and see how small we actually are and how we impact on the natural systems around us. These places have left a spiritual mark on me that often materialises in my thinking and practice.
