A Case Study of Contemporary Textile Art in Loewe Craft Prize

Abstract

Loewe Craft Prize is currently the most influential craft contest. During the contest, contemporary craftworks, as art with excellent aesthetic value, are selected as finalists but there are no enough studies on them as subjects. This study aimed to investigate contemporary textile pieces found in the fashion brand Loewe's Craft Prize, a Loewe Foundation Craft Prize and elucidate their expressive characteristics. The methodology of the study was a qualitative study that derives the expressive characteristics of the works within the scope of the study through case analysis along with theoretical reviews. The selection of research subjects was based on 22 works of textile pieces among the works selected as finalists for the last six years since the first year of the prize in 2016. The analysis of textile pieces showed first, the emphasis on traditional expression, second, the development of new expressive techniques for the material, and third, the pictorial character revealed in flat pieces. The expressive characteristics of contemporary textile art shown in the Loewe Foundation Craft Prize, derived based on such results were, first, the confirmation of the unique capabilities of craft through the inheritance of tradition, second, the rediscovery of textile properties through material experimentation, and third, the possibility of expanding the field of textile due to the pictorial character.