Textile Artist of the Year award to Maarit Salolainen
07.02.2014
Professor and textile artist Maarit Salolainen was chosen as Textile Artist of the Year at the Designers 2014 seminar on 7 February 2014 at the Bio Rex cinema in Helsinki.
The recognition, granted each year by two organisations in the field of design, Orgamo and Grafia, draws attention to the value of design as a competitive factor and its significance in society.
‘I am especially pleased with the prize because it is a recognition granted by colleagues. It is wonderful that work connected with design management and planning and management of collections is brought forward alongside product planning", Salolainen said, commenting on her award.
Salolainen works as the artistic director and collection planner of the Indian interior design and textile company F&F. In addition, she holds a professor's post at the School of Arts, Design and Architecture's Department of Design. Salolainen graduated as Master of Arts at the former University of Industrial Arts in 1992 with textile art as her main subject.
Materials and techniques must be constantly developed
In her research and teaching work Maarit Salolainen concentrates especially on the materials and structures of textiles – the so-called 3D surface design.
‘Pieces of cloth are three-dimensional structures which can be created in countless different ways. The nature of cloth is affected by its pattern as well as the structure, which is created by the threads, densities and various types of weaves. There are endless possibilities in materials, colours, patterns and techniques,’ Salolainen explains.
Changes in fashion and the need for functional materials require that textiles and fibres undergo constant development and attain new characteristics, such as resistance to chemicals.
‘Research has an important role in the in the development of materials, techniques and the entire field. A topical area of research involves various types of e-textiles and smart clothing.’
Innovative solutions with many different types of work
Salolainen has worked as an artistic director, designer and consultant in several textile and design companies, both internationally and nationally. She is able to use her solid experience in commercial and industrial textile design in her teaching work.
‘For the most part, designing collections is cooperation between brands, textile factories and the designer. The designer needs to have an understanding of fashion, commerce, internationalism and sustainable development – the textile industry is one of the world's biggest industries,’ Salolainen says.
Textile know-how and studies in the field are increasingly of interest to representatives of other sectors as well. The many possibilities offered by these materials are an inspiration to fashion designers, industrial designers, architects and engineers.
‘Aalto's mobility and versatility support the textile field in particular. In recent years, the most interesting results have emerged specifically in projects related to fashion with an emphasis on materials, and in which architecture and industrial design have been combined with textile structures,’ Salolainen says.