"The flowers chosen for this piece are ones that have grown in my Mum's house and garden and have personal meanings for me."
Anna Holmes grew up in South East London before moving to the countryside. The tension between the metropolitan and the rural is explored in her 2019 Hand & Lock Prize entry. Geometric shapes evoke the hard lines of the city while organic and floral motifs suggest the wild untamed nature of the countryside.
Holmes created a high fashion and dramatic silhouette with bold details rubbing shoulders with intricate and delicate complexity.
Exquisite goldwork is everywhere; bullion loops, spangles and Or Nue pepper the lower half while large and small three dimensional flowers bursting with beads and sequins dominate the top.
Encouraged in her final year to enter by her tutors at the Royal School of Needlework, Holmes’ said Prize might was ‘a good opportunity to get your work seen by others and see how your work stands up next to other professionals’.
Her work was seen by others and they loved it. Next to the professionals she held her own. She took third place in the Student Fashion Category.
You can see more of her work here
