Annabelle Collett
Annabelle Collett (1955-2019) was a South Australian designer and artist whose work embraced art, design and craft.
Her fashion designs and particularly her dramatic knitwear produced under the Ya Ya Oblique Clothing label attained international recognition. Her work also encompassed furniture design, graphics, costume and interior design, public art and environments. From the early 1990s Annabelle concentrated on making sculptural art pieces about the human form and its coverings, looking at the function and cultural meaning of attire with reference to ideas about gender, the body and sexuality.
In more recent years Collett also investigated notions of camouflage, disguise, pattern and the affect of disruptions to pattern. She is also known for a series of works with recycled and found plastics that focussed on repurposing waste and challenged the widespread adoption of single-use plastics. Having been based in Adelaide most of her career, in 2009 she moved to Clayton Bay where she enjoyed a rich collaboration with communities in the Alexandrina region as well as pursuing her own practice.
Her fashion designs and particularly her dramatic knitwear produced under the Ya Ya Oblique Clothing label attained international recognition. Her work also encompassed furniture design, graphics, costume and interior design, public art and environments. From the early 1990s Annabelle concentrated on making sculptural art pieces about the human form and its coverings, looking at the function and cultural meaning of attire with reference to ideas about gender, the body and sexuality.
In more recent years Collett also investigated notions of camouflage, disguise, pattern and the affect of disruptions to pattern. She is also known for a series of works with recycled and found plastics that focussed on repurposing waste and challenged the widespread adoption of single-use plastics. Having been based in Adelaide most of her career, in 2009 she moved to Clayton Bay where she enjoyed a rich collaboration with communities in the Alexandrina region as well as pursuing her own practice.