Aamina Desai's profile picture

Aamina Desai

Textile Design, BA (Hons)

About me

I am an endlessly inspired Textile Artist, Surface Pattern Designer and Illustrator, merging both traditional and digital design in my works.
I see potential in everything and am fascinated by stories, history, and culture, implementing strong narratives throughout my art in rich textures, and selecting colour palettes with vibrancy and depth.

Drawing has always been a strong passion of mine from my first year of study, but I have since developed a love for surface pattern print, 3D, and conceptual design, honing my skills across various disciplines and developing outcomes for fashion, interiors, book design and installations.

Throughout my Textiles degree, I’m fortunate to have received many opportunities and successfully showcase my talents, winning placements through live briefs with Cosatto and Matalan, and awards with Bradford Textiles and I-dott competitions.

I plan to gain experience and skills across the surface design industry, and continuously develop my own professional art style.

Progressing through the lens of tactile storytelling, I reconstruct the stories of a bygone era in my family history, immortalising them through print and pattern. The vibrant scarf collection serves as a physical body of work that can be worn and carried around to symbolise how these stories live on. My book illustrates the original stories, bringing significance to the original stories in a dreamscape, historical collective of memories. The conceptual installation serves as a living illustration beyond the pages, reconstructing a fantasy scenery of a place I never knew but is so deeply and significantly a part of me.

Commendations

  • Enterprise Award

External

  • 2023 UCLan Degree Show Award Nominee
  • 2023 Cosatto Surface Pattern Design Brief - Winner
  • 2023 Matalan Interior Surface Pattern Design Brief - Winner
  • 2023 I-dott Design Competition Shortlist
  • 2022 Bradford Textiles British Wool & The Alternative Flooring Co. Award - Winner
  • 2022 Idott Design Competition - 2nd Place

Feature print from Homeland Reverie square scarf collection, based upon tranquil village nights in my grandfather's village in Gujarat.

Square scarves and draped shawls with key prints

Feature pattern from the narrative square scarf collection.

Draped shawls with key prints

Square scarf collection close up with draped shawls

Illustrated book of compiled stories from personal family history.

Double-page introduction spread from Homeland Reverie illustrated book

Double-page story spread from Homeland Reverie illustrated book

Standing installation - Screen printed, laser cut wooden, based upon buildings and plants in my grandparents' Gujarati villages.

Hanging installation - Screen printed, laser cut shapes, building up a fantasy village dreamscape..

Keywords: Textiles, Illustration, Surface Pattern, Installation, Heritage, Culture, Fashion, Scarf Design, Book Design, Print, Colour, Textiles Design

The views and opinions of the students in the Degree Show and on their social media are their own and not that of the University.