Artist Profile:Petra Storrs

Petra Storrs:

Set and Costume designer

Petra storrs is a contempory designer who works on film,music videos,set,costume,and advertising design.She was brought up in oxfordshire and is now living in Hackney.

 It wasnt until today, after attending other student presentations that i was knowledgable on this artist.Her work caught my eye straight away because i feel some of her work is very similar to Oskar Schlemmers, due to the exaggerated use of shape.Moreover having previously done a workshop based on paper dress making, her work was inspirational in showing how current practisiing artists are also using materials such as paper to develope qand push their designs further.Moreover, i think her method of costume/set design is very like the work that i would like to create, it is very modern,innovative and quirky.After having visited her website, i found out that she has been in many recent newspaper articles as an upcoming designer to watch, due to her popular and unique work. She has worked with many big figures, such as Florence and the Machine,Paloma Faith and Lady Gaga, alongside exhibiting work for the V&A fashion week Anniversary show.After researching her further, i am going to include her into a project i am currently working on as inspiration. I think it will encourage me to develope shape within my work and use alternative materials to explore my ideas and help with sample making.

She has inspired me to reconsider how i work and i think she may now be a predominant influence in alot of my work.

Extract from We Heart:Lifestyle and Design Magazine.Interview with Petra Storrs

"Do you think location affects creativity?Being in London puts you in the right place at the right time,

 to take up the many work opportunites that are unique to London. It’s super competitive and every one 

is pushing, and struggling to succeed. I think after a while it can be too much though, and it’s important to

 get away from it regularly so you can miss it and come back.

     Is Britain’s creative industry too London-centric?It would be nice for it be a little more spread out. I have heard there are hot spots… Falmouth, Nottingham, Brighton, Somerset… perhaps the BBC moving out of London will have a positive effect.

The Swinging ’60s, punk, Hacienda-era Manchester… is there one period of intense British creativity that you’d like to have been a part of, and why?I think I’m more arts and crafts movement – William Morris – than Swinging ’60s, punk, or the Hacienda!

Are there any quintessential British traditions that inform your work?Most recently the tradition of Afternoon Tea, I just completed a tea project, Camellia and the Rabbit with performance artist Rachel Snider, a fantastic London-based performance artist and theatre maker. We collaborated with Rachel to design the props and costume for her solo show, developing a collection of otherworldly objects to enhance her captivating performance, as she tells stories from her life threading them together in a celebration of Afternoon Tea.It was an exciting project for me as we where able to work with lots of crafts people to get some really amazing items made, like an armour-maker in France who handmade the metal strainer outfit and giant tea spoon from steel. The show is now ready, with its first unveiling coming soon.