Rosy Heywood

Rosy is currently working with a local hydroponic farming business as part of Centre for Print Research’s industry innovation prototyping scheme. Her research involves designing a ceramic hydroponic tower for growing micro greens in commercial spaces. Rosy is also working with Tavs Jorgensen and Sonny Lee Lightfoot on the Healthy Waters project. The research explores sustainable ways of creating ceramic filtration systems to clean contaminated waters. The research includes designing and producing porous ceramic media for biological filtration and developing ram pressed porous ceramic pots for direct water filtration. The core goal is to produce filters that are scalable, low cost and can be reproduced in low resource areas. The work is a part of a research beacon with UWE’s Heath and Applied Sciences.

Rosy joined CFPR in 2021 as a Research Associate on a project with Laura Morgan investigating digital processing for sustainable material finishing and bio-material design. The project was awarded funding by the UWE Vice Chancellor Early Researcher Development Award. The project came to a close December 2021 and the final outcome was a collection of naturally dyed and laser engraved linen samples, a biomaterial library and a forthcoming journal paper.

Rosy gained a MA in Design from UWE in 2021 which was awarded a Distinction. Her research was focussed on foraged and medicinal natural dyes for wellness on cellulosic fibres. Through rigorous material testing, research into plants as dyestuffs and exploring how colour and shape can inspire mindfulness and support wellness, Rosy produced a final collection of research samples and portfolio samples showcasing techniques such as bundle dyeing, natural resist printing and dip dyeing. 

Prior to her MA, Rosy was awarded a BA (Hons) Textile Design from Falmouth University. Her main discipline was embroidery and her final major project concentrated on subversive use of the digital embroidery machine to create artistic textile works. During her studies, Rosy interned at Mary Katrantzou’s fashion house in London and pitched competition collections to clients including Vanderhurd and Nicholas Oakwell.

Research Interests: Sustainable textiles; Circular design; History of textiles; Natural dyeing; Bio-materials; Biomorphic design; The Environment

Qualifications: BA(Hons), MA

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rosy-heywood-33060278/