Markmake Collaborations

Matthew Tradgett & Sarah Pearson Cooke
Sarah Pearson Cooke produces hand dyed Shibori textiles and digitally printed fabrics and Matthew Tradgett is a furniture maker. Their collaboration brings together skills of working with wood, veneers, stitch and fabric, to bring their different making processes into dialogue.
This exploration came at a time of transition for these makers following the birth of their daughter which underscored their working together: “We have half an hour and then she wakes up!”

Sarah and Matt had worked together before, but the elements of their work were separate. In this project they wanted to develop a dialogue across their combined practice. As they found out, locating shared points of connection across their different approaches to the design process was the challenging part of the process. Sketching, drawing and modelling became a shared way of communicating ideas. Matt explained:
“One day I was using steam for other work and on my drive home I was thinking ‘ah we could do that with one of these pieces’. I got home and I tried to explain it to Sarah as if she has been working with wood for years. And I realised that I have to draw it out.”
The pair have taken diverse inspiration from the work o...

BA (Hons) Creative Arts
MA Design: Textiles
HND Product Design
City & Guilds in Fine Furniture