Fabric of rural life celebrated at ‘Vita Rurale’ exhibition

TEXTILES inspired by summer days in the South of Italy will bring some welcome sunshine to Kinvara this month, in a new exhibition at the Courthouse.

Kinvara Area Visual Arts (KAVA) presents ‘Vitae Rurale’ by Isabella Florio. This ten-day exhibition will open on Friday next, October 7. 

Isabella is an Italian designer and textile artist who completed her honours BA in Design at the Atlantic Technological University (ATU) earlier this year.

She first became interested in art and design as a young child, a hobby she also enjoyed throughout her teenage years. After secondary school, she chose to pursue a creative career, moving to Dublin in 2016 to join The Grafton Academy, where she studied Fashion Design for over a year.

Here, Isabella gained skills in pattern drafting and garment construction. After deciding to expand her knowledge and explore a new avenue of education, she enrolled in ATU to study Fashion and Textile Design.

Her work there was centred around fashion design and the exploration of techniques and processes relating to surface design and textile manufacturing, using a wide variety of mediums.

As well as this, Isabella developed a keen interest in fashion illustration and colour theory.

She said that ‘Vita Rurale’ has a deep personal inspiration for her. “[It is] Inspired by my Italian heritage; of nostalgic summer days spent in the South of Italy, surrounded by good food, family, and sunshine,” she said.

“The bountiful fruit and vegetable garden, grown by my Italian grandparents, was a copious source of inspiration, informing the motifs and silhouettes for both my print and fashion collections.”

‘Vita Rurale’ will run from October 7, and is open to the public from 11am to 4pm, until October 17.