Creative Karigor Institute of Creative Study

🔸 Creative Report: bdcn24.com 🔹

Extremely talented Russian designer Anna Lesnikova creates unforgettable works of knitted art. She is considered as one of the most brilliant, original and sought after knitwear fashion designers, rightly called "The Queen of Knitwear". Born and raised in Nizhny Novgorod, she lives and works in Moscow. At the age of 5 she took the knitting needles in her little hands and since then she has never left them! Anna Lesnikova started creating her own knits in her school years. Although she studied food technology, as is often the case in life, the specialty one acquires is far from what he/she truly loves and to which gives his/her whole soul. So the designer decided to deal with this, that is, the design and production of modern knitted garments.
She started in 1993 with two Japanese knitting machines and a staff of seven, and today she is known not only in Russia but also across its borders. She presents 4 collections per year and she was the first designer to present a collection of knitted clothes in the style of high fashion, in 1997, in Düsseldorf and was named the "event of the year". Since 1993, Anna has been a regular participant in the Moscow Haute Couture Week. At the Cardin Film Festivals in Moscow and Las Vegas, she was recognized as the best designer. In 2000, she was awarded the title of "Queen of Knitting of Russia" by participating in the All-Russian Knitting Competition in St. Petersburg. In fact, one of the members of the jury was wearing a dress of hers! She is the only knitting designer with whom Valentin Yuncaki himself participated in joint shows - three times from 1995 to 1997.

Her knits are usually knitted from mohair, they are decorated with hand embroidery and made without seams. The knitting technique she uses is also unique. Her knits charm with their refined simplicity and at the same time their originality. That is why wherever she presents them, they are accompanied by success. It is therefore no coincidence that a) at St. Martins - the most prestigious fashion design university in London - Anna Lesnikova's knitting lessons are taught in knitting courses, that b) in the recent forum of Russian talent and designers, Anna's collection became one of the most important fashion designers in the history of haute couture - Pierre Cardin, and that (c) her knitwear has been included in the Italian "Collectible" catalog, as well as in fashion magazines in Canada, Sweden, Italy, England and other countries.

Report: bdcn24.com

The extremely talented American fiber artist Giacchina Polly Jacobs was inspired early on in college and by individual leading artists, absorbing distinct views of art and fiber that brought on her own desire for exploration of natural materials through basketry sculpture. Studying at San Diego State University with Joan Austin and independently exploring natural materials with Misti Washington in Solana Beach CA started a unique lifestyle of discovery.
From 1982 to the present, she has exhibited in galleries and museums both nationally and internationally and teaches basketry and hand weaving techniques. Polly has been published in American Craft Magazine, Fiber Art Now, the National Basketry Organization Quarterly and several books on fiber art.
Regarding her work, she states: “Passion, creativity and imagination drive my work. For me there is inspiration in nature, life’s experiences, and words.
Choosing fiber to build my sculptures enables me to find the flexibility, undulation and the tactile nature of both natural and man-made materials. Woven shapes and forms are made to convey and suggest relationships. Sculptural wall forms communicate experiences of materiality and the environment.
I use a multitude of handweaving techniques that are ancient practices and yet they guide me to contemporary expressions. I have chosen fiber as the means to create my sculptural art. There is the sense of completion with reinterpreted natural materials, conveying my design ideas. I am inspired by repetitive forms, outlines, contours, and close investigations of organic structures. With nature as a partner I interpret natural materials and industrial flexible fibers into undulating forms and shapes. Three-dimensional wall hangings and vessels come alive with tactile abstract surfaces and earthy color.