Creative forces combine for Craft and Design Week

IT’S the three-piece suit as you’ve never seen it before.

Designer-maker of jewellery Dearne Mills has been creatively collaborating with fashion designer Jude Ng to come up with something new and special as part of Ballarat’s first ever Craft and Design Week from 1-10 May.

The week is aiming to bring artists, makers and designers together to create something new, local and collaborative, and the work of Mills and Ng is among many clever projects set to feature as part of the debut event.

“Our collaboration is a reinvention of the three-piece suit,” said Mills who is making textural jewellery from recycled materials to mesh with Ng’s gender-neutral clothing.

“It’s like a mash up of accessories and clothing. Where does the clothing end and the jewellery begin?”

Other collaborative projects include Under the Stars, the result of a three–way collaboration between Kerith Holmes, Jordy Bos and Jessica Larm; Spencer Harrison and Nick Doran Adams’ combination of geometric abstraction and glass art; Minna Graham and Bernadette Aitken weaving together clay and cloth; and the combined talents of Tiffany Titshall and Jayne Newgreen celebrating layered surfaces and tactile narratives.

City of Ballarat mayor Cr Tracey Hargreaves said the week is a celebration of the region’s creative talent and team spirit.

“Ballarat’s first Craft and Design Week looks to be an incredible celebration of the talented practitioners we have in our region, showcased within the beautiful Mining Exchange building,” Cr Hargreaves said.

“This event strengthens Ballarat’s position as a national leader in craft and design, while inviting our community to engage directly with the people and processes behind the work.”