Olivia Carroll - Highly Commended

My daily journaling was an intuitive process guided by the prompts and my bank of crafting supplies. I wanted to incorporate many different techniques throughout the journal but keep a central focus on textiles. My journal features weaving, embroidery, dyed cloth, collage, painting, and drawing. I approached the theme of transformation in quite a literal sense, I would normally begin a new page with the technique or medium I wanted to use and asked myself “how can I transform this material into something that represents the prompt for today?”. For example, the imagery created for the prompt ‘bend’ was created from paper and fabric off-cuts that would have otherwise been discarded, thus in a sense transforming waste. Other times I would represent metamorphosis - transformation naturally occurring in nature, such as for the prompt ‘tadpole’ or where I have represented cocoons and a butterfly. I was also consistently drawn to representing themes surrounding climate change, which is particularly evident in Australia as we begin to experience the harsh reality of increased wild bushfires. I chose to stick to a cohesive colour palette to create a feeling of unity when flipping through the pages. This challenge also came about at the perfect time for me, right as I was finishing up at university and at a time when I felt the urge to return to my creative practice.

Olivia Carroll is a textile artist based in Canberra. Her work primarily focuses on loom and basketry weaving, however, also delves into other techniques such as embroidery and punch-needle. Majority of her work utilises natural fibers to ensure biodegradability can be achieved at the end of the products lifecycle. Similarly, much of her work features eco-dyed cloth, a sustainable alternative to synthetic dye which creates lovely subtle colours naturally derived from plants