Textile Design graduates shortlisted for Global Creative Showcase

BA (Hons) Textile Design graduates Grace Cook, Roisin Foster and Joe Gurr have been shortlisted for Arts Thread’s Global Creative Graduate Showcase 2026.

The Global Creative Graduate Showcase 2026 is open to undergraduate and postgraduate art and design students worldwide who graduated in 2025–26. Arts Thread hosts the competition in collaboration with Monaco Foundry and Google Arts and Culture.

‘Feeling Colour’ by Grace Cook is a research-led interior textile collection that explores the relationship between neuroaesthetics (how the brain and nervous system respond to art and beauty), colour and sensory-led design in interior spaces. The project investigates how colour, texture, pattern and materiality can influence mood, emotional response and sensory experience, considering the restorative potential of interiors beyond aesthetics alone. Sensory observations and environmental references are translated into layered surface designs and refined through digital print, screen-print and tactile techniques including flock and foil.

Roisin Foster’s ‘The tale of two gardens’ is a research-driven project that explores the therapeutic qualities of gardens and how these may be translated into surface pattern design to enhance restful and joyous wellness in the home. Observational studies are transformed into hand-painted, stylised compositions of bountiful blooms, and the rich textures of the garden are visually translated through mark-making and emphasised through a variety of surface finishes to represent aspects of touch.

‘Coconut to Concept’ by Joe Gurr explores Malai, a biomaterial made from coconut water waste, as a sustainable alternative to leather. Using a material-led approach, Joe experimented with laser cutting, etching and reconstruction to develop textile and fashion outcomes. The process extended beyond the material itself, reusing offcuts and discarded elements to create new compositions and surface designs. By transforming waste into design, the project embraces circular principles while highlighting the potential of Malai as both a functional and aesthetic material for contemporary fashion and accessories.