Sara Armstrong

Autumn Winter 17-18 instalment impels introspection of her childhood nightmares to a palpable confrontation, an intimacy with her unease. Pushing beyond the static of the dream, rich, conflicted colours clash and then tuck deftly into tailored turns, an orchestrated, sophisticated chaos of pattern, textures and time.

Armstrong romanticizes the deafening pulsation of her dreams through the stoic, rhythmic portraits of 17th Century Flemish Baroque painter, Sir Anthony Van Dyck. From him, she also borrows an emphasis on visual tactility, blending the vibrating imagery of pattern with luxuriant billows of textures.

Excavating deeper into this space, the collection gathers fragments of history into a re-interpretation of tailoring, and explores qualities of cloth, colour and drape. Generous swathes of wool cinch nimbly at the waist, and give rise to luminescent shades of cotton, linens and silks. Hand construction methods—such as smocking—are revivified through the use of new materials.

This instalment will see a collaborative display of audio and visual, orchestrated by artist and film-maker, Kerry Chambers and multimedia artist, Mohamed Ibrahim Ali."