Welcome back to the second part of our Tate Christmas card reveal. If you missed the first part, please click here to catch up!
Without further ado, we have the remaining x4 students and their winning Christmas card designs to announce. Please continue reading to find out all about their design inspiration and to see their festive card.
Happy Christmas Cat by Keyi Ma
What was the inspiration behind your design?
The inspiration of my design comes from my cats. I love cats and I have 3. I feel cats are a “proud” animal, who really like snacks or toys. They pretend they don’t care. Just like some people, they act very cold and cool, but actually they LOVE festivals!!
What is your favourite thing about the festive period?
For me, my favourite part of the festive period is that they make people more connected. Even if I walk on the street, I know that everyone’s smiles are closely related to the festive spirit, strangers can bless each other. Work, trouble and sadness can be paused for this day, that is my favourite thing.
Christmas Table by Elisa Terranera
What was the inspiration behind your design?
Last year I had two Christmas celebrations. One was with friends in London, where I had my very first English Christmas dinner; the other one with my family at my grandma’s house in Rome. I merged the sketches I had made throughout the two dinners into one drawing by placing traditional English food on the tablecloth from my Italian grandma’s home. For me Christmas means spending quite a lot of time sitting around a table with my family while chatting and chewing, hence the idea to focus my illustration on this subject.
What is your favourite thing about the festive period?
My favourite thing about the festive period is when my grandma has had a few glasses of wine and starts showing off her questionable French. I also enjoy all the preparation that’s behind Christmas: the discussions, the decorations and the cooking.
Christmas Lights by Scarlett Isobel O’Sullivan
What was the inspiration behind your design?
I would say my inspiration was impulsive. I, myself was taken in by the Christmas atmosphere at the same moment as I took my photos. The multitude of bright Christmas lights, the usual traffic as well as the typical rainy weather blended in with the window glass and became unified.
What is your favourite thing about the festive period?
One of my most beautiful and memorable Christmas experiences was in 2014, when I travelled to Tanzania over Christmas with my mother, her best friend and her children. It was by far the most unusual Christmas: Dancing on Christmas Eve around an open fire in a lodge with local Massai singing in Swahili. There I realised that being together and spending time together is the most precious and my favourite part of Christmas. While I believe you can create a Christmas atmosphere anywhere in the world, there is nothing better than celebrating Christmas where you feel at home, with your loved ones.
Winter Landscape by Eleni Maragaki
What was the inspiration behind your design?
Winter Landscape is inspired by the wilderness and variety of Mediterranean nature. It lacks the human presence and aims to transcend the feeling of solitude and calmness, which is characteristic of the winter season. For this design, I was particularly drawn to the idea of mapping and human observation of the landscape in an abstract and exploratory way. My main inspiration was ‘Chorography’, a type of mapmaking which stands between painting and geography, as it does not focus on the precise mathematical depiction relating to scale and location, but on the impression of how a particular region or terrain is perceived by the human eye.
What is your favourite thing about the festive period?
My favourite thing about the festive period is that I get to spend time with my family and friends, share gifts as well as eating good meals and homemade sweets! It is also great to be inspired by the winter season, which is when I usually feel most creative.