Rhia Cook
Rhia Cook is a Textile Designer and Workshop Facilitator. Her work incorporates methods from various different areas of art and design practice, including knitted and printed textiles, graphic design and social research. People and the power design holds to help them motivate her work. In particular, her recent work looks at how it’s possible to engage more people in politics through textiles, focusing on making it silly rather than serious. Originally from Fife, Rhia recently graduated from Textile Design at Dundee University in 2018 and now lives and works in the city.
Political Softies
It’s easy to be disillusioned with politics. The quantity of information and strength with which opinions are delivered can be completely overwhelming and discourage a lot of people from engaging with it. This work aims to change that attitude. On display are eight digitally printed and embroidered cushions featuring the faces of various big name politicians. Shown next to them are comment cards, both blank and already filled in versions, inviting you to think about what each politician personally stands for. You are also invited to “Design your own Politician” with an interactive whiteboard display that asks you to fill in the blanks to create your ideal person to represent you. What would they look like? What’s their best policy? Their biggest triumph? The work is designed to make the topic of politics more silly than serious, reminding participants that we get the final say in who represents us.
UKYA PROJECTS:
UKYA City Takeover: Nottingham 2019
