Helena Britt is a lecturer within the Department of Fashion and Textiles at The Glasgow School of Art (GSA). Responsibilities include undergraduate pathway coordination, facilitating printed textiles learning and teaching, research representation for fashion and textiles and the Centre for Advanced Textiles (CAT). Helena is currently involved in supervision and has been an internal and external PhD examiner. Research interests for supervisory responsibilities include:
• Printed textile design, the impact of digital technologies on creative practice and production;
• Textile design education, the educator role; research/practice/scholarship and teaching linkages;
• Practice focused methodologies, particularly the use of textile design practice as research process;
• Utilisation and interpretation of archival resources by creative practitioners.
At present Helena is undertaking a period of research leave to pursue post-doctoral projects. Funded by the Royal Society of Edinburgh, a project titled Interwoven Connections: The Stoddard Templeton Design Studio and Design Library, 1843-2005 will be undertaken. The purpose is to examine utilisation of archival resources in the design process, focusing specifically on the Stoddard Templeton Design Library held at GSA. Previous work in this area has been undertaken with Elaine Bremner, Subject Leader for Woven Textiles at GSA, as part of a group project, Awaken. This research investigated the interpretation of archive material for contemporary textile design and explicated examples of textile design creative process.
A project is being pursued which examines textile design research, to seek insight into the impact of the research agenda on the nature of educator creative practice in higher education (HE) in the United Kingdom (UK). This project builds on doctoral research, which investigated the role of the designer educator in the development of digitally created and digitally printed textiles. A self-case study, survey and interview methods were used to elicit the multifarious nature of the contemporary textile designer educator role existent in the UK HE sector, specifically in relation to utilisation of digital technology. The critical importance for textile designer educators to undertake creative practice was evidenced, due to the positive benefits attributed to engagement in this activity. Helena has also been involved with aspects of the research and knowledge exchange activities at CAT, including the Technology Strategy Board funded Digital Art Capture Project and various Scottish Funding Council Innovation Voucher Projects.
Helena has an MA Printed Textiles from the Royal College of Art and has worked as a textile designer on a freelance and commission basis for a range of clients. Collections of interior textiles and products have been exhibited and sold to interior designers, architects and through retailers. As a Steering Group member of the Association of Degree Courses in Fashion & Textiles (FTC) Helena is involved in various Association activities, she also represents GSA on the Scottish Textile Academic Group (STAG) and is a member of the Textile Society and Design Research Society.
