RDS Craft Award 2023 Winners

The RDS Craft Awards are happy to announce the 2023 winners of five emerging talents who have won a combined €50,000 in prizes for their development of craft & business skills.

Winners of the annual RDS Craft Awards were announced today, where five emerging Irish craft makers and designers each received a €10,000 cash prize to support the development of their craft & business skills - and a much sought-after, free stand at the annual GIFTED (valued at €2,000 each) - The Contemporary Craft & Design Fair which runs at the RDS each December. In addition to this, the winners will also benefit from six hours of targeted mentoring with a craft & design professional.

Since 2018 the RDS Craft Awards has awarded over €300,000 in supports to emerging Irish makers. The awards are based on a bursary style model and can be spent on further education and training, research, development of new work, mentoring, purchase of equipment, studio improvements, website, and residencies.

Irish craft is something to be proud of and the RDS plays a key role in supporting this important creative industry. The RDS Craft Awards (formerly the RDS Crafts Competition) has contributed significantly to the development and growth of the craft sector in Ireland over many decades. Their current support includes three components: the RDS Craft Awards, the RDS Irish Craft Bursary, and the RDS Branchardiére Lace Bursary. Annually, €62,000 is awarded by the RDS to seven Irish craft makers over all these prizes.

The Design & Crafts Council of Ireland’s Future Makers programme is the qualifying competition for the RDS Craft Awards. The quality of this year's applications was outstanding, and the nine shortlisted craft makers and designers went through a rigorous two-stage selection and judging process to result in the five winners we see today. They are a real tribute to the professionalism and talent of the emerging makers coming into the professional craft sector this year.

The 24th RDS Craft Art Awards applications were reviewed by a judging team of 4 independent craft & design professionals who reviewed the applications from the 2022 Future Makers winners, and in turn shortlisted 9 candidates to attend an interview in the RDS last month, before selecting the final 5 winning makers today. Nuala O'Donovan [Ceramic Artist]; Alan Meredith [Furniture Designer and Maker]; Laura Caffrey [Designer and Business Owner]; were members of the expert judging panel, which was chaired by Mary Palmer [Textile Artist]. Ms. Palmer comments on the high standard of this year’s awards:

“The judging panel was impressed with the breadth and quality of work presented by the candidates. The winners have an amazing range of talent and skill and we look forward to seeing their careers progress over the coming years.” – Mary Palmer, Chair of RDS Craft Awards Judging Panel.

Geraldine Ruane, RDS Chief Executive said, “The RDS is proud to support excellence in the Craft sector through the RDS Craft Awards programme, which supports emerging Irish craft makers and designers. In the past six years, the RDS Craft Awards has invested €300,000 in 30 Irish craft makers and designers starting out in their careers. This is another tangible example of the RDS fulling its Mission of seeing Ireland thrive culturally and economically, through our Foundation work. I had the pleasure of meeting this year’s RDS Craft Awards Winners and was astounded by the skill and talent displayed in their work. The winners told me about the impact the RDS support will have on their practice including mentorship from highly regarded makers and an injection of prize money which will be used for training, research, and the purchasing of vital equipment. The RDS looks forward to following the journeys of the five RDS Craft Award Winners and we wish them every success in their future.”

AND THE 2023 WINNERS ARE ….

Barry Todd - Furniture

Barry is a graduate from NCAD in 2015 with an Honours BA in Industrial Design. He set up his workshop Studio Kinnard where he creates refreshing Irish design with a commitment to excellence in craft. He develops designs for unique high-quality hardwood furniture with a focus on clean lines and considered details. All his recent work has been an exploration of curves and carving to enhance woods' natural features. In every piece, he aims to craft simple expressive forms that are pleasing to the touch and comfortable to use. Barry says, “To win an RDS Craft award is a major milestone in the development of my career. I plan to use the €10,000 bursary to dedicate time and material to the development of new work.”

https://www.studiokinnard.ie

Patrick Brennan – Bladesmith, Jewellery & Design

Patrick has many educational accolades for all his talents that include a Degree in Goldsmithing and Jewellery Design from Design and Craft Council of Ireland, Kilkenny; Traditional Japanese Blade Smithing from Carter Cutlery (Oregan USA); and Knife making courses at Gil Hibben Knives (Kentucky, USA) and GASTEC (London). He is passionate about creating the highest quality and original designs that inspire awe, create conversation and pieces that can be passed down from generation to generation. He combines traditional techniques and processes such as forging, welding, casting and gem-setting which enable him to create works of distinction that are renown internationally by knife smiths, jewellery designers and critics for their premium quality craftsmanship and artistry. Patrick says, “I am at a crucial stage of development and expansion at my recently renovated studio located in the prestigious Castle Yard at the Kilkenny Design Centre. This requires me to work a much larger stock and increase production in the same amount of time. Receiving this RDS award enables me to purchase a Power Hammer, which is a mechanization of the fundamentals of smith, hammer, anvil and hot steel. There will be substantial benefits to the Company allowing me to complete more and advance blacksmithing projects both faster and more effectively.”

https://www.brennanknives.com/

Emer Roberts – Fine Art / Fine Jewellery

Emer is an MFA Sculpture graduate of NCAD and also has a BA in Fine Art Sculpture from DIT School of Art and Design. She has gradually transitioned from a large scale sculptural process to luxury fine-art jewellery. Her aesthetic evolved with explorations of our fellow mammal — the rat. Her intentions cross the frontiers between sculpture and decorative art in creating wearable beauty; such as translating the physiological or biological into botanical form using the infamous incisors of the rat to mirror Art Nouveau’s decorative style. Emer says on her RDS Craft Award win, “I can now purchase professional studio equipment to further develop my mould making, resin/metals casting and wax working practice. This glorious win will provide precision and time efficiency and I can now develop my website too which needs proper attention.”

https://emerroberts.com

Clodagh Molloy – Jeweller

Clodagh is a graduate of NCAD with an MA in Design for Body and Environment; a Post Grad Certifciate in Creative Thinking, Innovation and Entrepreneurship from Trinity College Dublin, and has a Bdes in Craft Design, Metals also from NCAD. In her jewellery art and design practice she has an ongoing project titled “Shared Stories”. In it, she is creating a body of work that examines and initiates a dialogue around the subject of mental ill health. She addresses the stigmas and highlights the strength needed to come through or live with a mental illness. Her intentions are to help remove the tags and labels given to sufferers. She is continuously collecting stories and conversations resulting in a continuing evolution of her design practice. About her award, Clodagh says. “I will use the RDS Craft Award to bring an additional quantity to my body of work called ‘Shared Stories’ and some of the other iterations of this project to Contemporania Barcelona in September 2023 as part of the ENJOIA’T award and the full project to Munich Jewellery week in March 2024.”

https://www.clodaghmolloy.com/

Ríon Hannora – Fashion Design

Ríon is a graduate of the Limerick School of Art and Design and has a BA Hons Degree in Fashion Design. She celebrates the human figure throughout her work by using aspects that are specific to women's wear. Combining traditional methods of textile work with modern innovations, she explores sustainable alternatives to fashion design by incorporating fabrics and materials that have already served their purpose. While expressing herself through textiles it's near impossible not to notice the fashion industry, which is in a constant frenzy of ever changing trends. She instead takes a step back from the race of finding the new, and look to the past. She is drawn to the fashion of the Baroque era and brings it back to life by using more contemporary fabrics, which she then spray paints. On her win Ríon says. “I will deepen my engagement with sustainability in the world of fashion through the use of classes run by the likes of Carol Feller, international travel costs, accomodation and research around sustainability and durability within various fabrics.”

http://www.rionhannora.com/