New wave: 12 craft graduates that need to be on your radar

School is out for summer, and with that comes a fresh stream of talented craft graduates. From woodworkers to jewellery artists, ceramicists to embroiderers, an impressively rich crop of makers is emerging from this year's cohort – here, curator Riya Patel picks her favourites.

Thomas Hancock
BA (Hons) Contemporary Design Crafts
Hereford College of Arts

Hancock’s highly original Jet Vessels combine traditional woodworking and metalworking skills with the slick finishes of the automotive and aviation industries. Each spun aluminium vessel is shaped on a hand-turned wooden former that imprints its grain to give a textured interior. Inspired by the build-up of colours cars acquire over time, Hancock spray paints the vessels and patterns them by scraping back layers.

Jiin Kim
MA Craft
University of Brighton

A modular screen with the potential for personalisation: although it looks effortless, this furniture project’s real challenge is the novel wooden hinge piece that allows for panels to be interchanged, and for the whole screen to be extended while maintaining its stability. Kim says the piece can express identity – decorating her own is a version of the Ilwol Obongdo, a Korean folk painting of five mountain peaks.

Lulu Harrison
MA Material Futures
Central Saint Martins

The quagga mussel is a pipe-blocking river pest that costs water companies millions to remove. Harrison’s Thames Glass project solves the problem with a touch of alchemy, making a novel and hyperlocal material from these mussels’ shells. A prototype carafe, tumbler and architectural tile in the jade-like milky material revive ancient glassmaking technique through impressive research and collaboration.

Millie Harris
BA (Hons) 3D Design and Craft
University of Brighton

Wanders in Sussex’s ancient landscapes inspire Harris’s turned wood sculptures, which she forms from decaying trees, melted down silver and other organic materials. They loosely reference geographic features but are more like statements on the lost bond between humans and nature. Unlike students who strive for the perfect final object, Harris enjoys crafting as a form of connection.

Benjamin Helsby
BA (Hons) Product Design and Craft
Manchester School of Art

Helsby’s roughly-finished rings are a testament to jewellery’s extraordinary storytelling ability. Leaves, sticks and stems are knotted together and cast in silver and brass to sensitively capture memories and feelings about lost loved ones. Assemblages of twigs reference childhood games played outside with grandparents, while a stem without leaves hints at a relationship cut short.

Holly McAulay
MA (Hons) Fashion Knitwear Design
Nottingham Trent University

A highly technical crafter, McAulay avoids waste by using machinery to calculate patterns for her menswear. She also uses virtual simulation to test out concepts before committing to material. Pieces reflect this confident exploration of the places digital technology can take knitting, with complex compositions of structure, pattern, yarn and form that stretch and adapt to the body.

Leora Honeyman
MA Ceramics and Glass
Royal College of Art

As creature-like objects that drip, ooze and teem with strange growths, Honeyman’s fantastical porcelain pieces blend the aesthetics of the craft, natural and digital worlds. The ceramic artist employs experimental methods too: the pastel-coloured Table Garden is formed by generating the structure of a primrose in CAD, then cutting and deforming it by putting parts through a slab roller.

Taiwo Sowafora
BA (Hons) Fashion Textile Design
De Montfort University

Sowafora’s final collection channels life in busy Lagos. The distinctive knitwear collection shows her strength in two and dimensions, with a graphic quality that riffs on the colours and pattern of traditional Nigerian costume. A combination of hand and machine work brings each piece depth, texture and contrast; there’s a sense of restraint and careful material handling, too.

Jacob Marks
BA (Hons) Product and Furniture Design
Kingston School of Art

Marks’ material explorations show pine resin’s promise as a sustainable alternative for common homewares. This commendable craft research project explores the untapped qualities of resin from pine, fir and cedar trees. From translucent amber to jet black, sticky to smooth, these innovative objects test resin’s potential to become plastic-free cups, drawer handles, fruit bowls and more.

Arouge Salim
BA (Hons) Textile Design
Glasgow School of Art

This unusual approach to textiles breaks a solid surface into interconnected pieces that are threaded together and move with the body. Salim was inspired by the language of neon lights and researched the movements of cogs and gears to create a kinetic effect. The result: a bold collection that isn’t afraid to stray from the usual territory of textile design.

Daisy Streatfeild
BA (Hons) Hand Embroidery
Royal School of Needlework

Hampton Court Palace gave Streatfield all the inspiration she needed for the two young princes in her imaginary fairy tale. The story is told through gems, beads and sequins clustered on the boys’ coat tails – their dark ending is hinted at through embroidered skull motifs. This skilful, detail-rich final project has an abundance reminiscent of sculptor Kathleen Ryan’s bejewelled decaying fruits.

Zixinyu Zhou
BA (Hons) Silversmithing and Jewellery Design
Glasgow School of Art

Zhou’s bright and textured jewellery is all about conveying joy to others. These colourful, conversation-starting accessories speak of personal relationships and are about enriching the viewer as much as the wearer. Up close, the ring, brooch and necklace are like sea anemones or exotic corals – they are actually creative uses of false stamens, the cheap stuff of artificial flowers used for cakes and wreaths.