Craft is sadly often regarded as a traditional, outdated pursuit, and design its sleeker, contemporary counterpart. But are craft and design really that different from each other? Can one even exist without the other?

In celebration of our first 2018 exhibition Expanded Discrete States: Craft + Design chair Artisan’s Curator Kellee Uhr will join panellists Chantal Henley, Leon Fitzpatrick and Nora Kinnunen in discussion about how the handmade informs designed objects.

Together our panelists will explore the vital role that craft techniques play in fostering sustainable designs, both in their own design practices and for the exhibiting artists in Expanding Discrete States: Craft + Design.

About the panellists:

Nora Kinnunen, Redirective Designer at Deka Design and Research Associate at Queensland University of Technology
Nora is a Researcher, Academic and Redirective Designer working across disciplines. As a researcher at Queensland University of Technology, she is currently dividing her time between two research projects as well as her PhD, which is focused on the lives of craft practitioners in a regional community in Finland. Her academic work also involves regular teaching into QUT’s design program. She also manages a small craft-based business Deka Design where they design and manufacture furniture locally and hold workshops and classes in furniture design, making and restoration.

Chantal Henley,
Chantal Henley is a textile designer from the Ngugi/Mununjali clans of South East Queensland. Currently based in the Riverland (South Australia) she is known for her First Nations textile and woven adornment in both Fashion & Costume Design.

Leon Fitzpatrick, Industrial design and Co-Founder of AUXILIARY Design School
Leon Fitzpatrick is an industrial designer who grew up between Australia, the U.S., and Europe. He studied in Detroit and worked as a designer in Chicago for clients such as Motorola, Microsoft, Xbox, Nike, and Dell. As an independent professional he continues to consult internationally on industrial, interaction and experience design for the U.S. automotive industry. Leon is also a Co-Founder of AUXILIARY, an independent industrial design school in based in Brisbane.

Image: Clare Kennedy, experiment for seasonal screen (detail), 2018, natural fibres. Courtesy of the artist and Five Mile Radius.