Hong Kong-based Elaine Yan pushes boundaries in textile design

It’s the weekend in Kwai Chung industrial district, and in an airy workshop amid a magpie-like collection of leather, lacquered wood and rolls of glistening fabrics, Elaine Yan Ling Ng is meticulously applying tiny triangles of crystal by hand to a tightly woven rope of steel.

The British Chinese designer’s latest experiment in cutting-edge textile technology is an ambitious interactive installation of five pear-shaped “bio-sculptures” combining hand-made threads and about 20 million Swarovski crystals, and programmed to respond to different sounds.

Inspired by the exotic sundew, a carnivorous plant that attracts its prey with scent and reflected light before encircling it in a deadly embrace, the kaleidoscopic kinetic sculptures were showcased at this year’s Art Central exhibition.

The young designer says she was keen to push the boundaries turning crystals from a decorative surface into structures.

"Sometimes I’m greedy because I want to work with everything like Swarovski’s new technique of printing directly onto crystals or weaving them into the fabric itself,” Ng laughs.

However, even minor alterations that affect weight or movement had unforeseen impacts.