Althea McNish - Joyce Lin

Born in 1924 in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad, Althea McNish grew up instinctively drawn to painting. Establishing herself as a serious artist even as a teen (her first work exhibited when she was sixteen), she intermingled with prominent artists in the Trinidad and Tobago Arts Society. She later worked as a cartographer and illustrator for the British government, before moving to London with her parents in 1950. In London, she rejected a scholarship to study at the Architectural Association and instead took a course on commercial arts at the London School of Printing and Graphic Arts (now the London College of Communication). It was here that she first developed a passion for screen-printing, a foundation for her later work into textile design. In the mid-1950s she enrolled in evening classes at the Central School of Arts and Crafts, where her instructor suggested she work in textiles by applying her print-making skills there.

Gaining a scholarship at the Royal College of Arts, she switched her path from graphic arts to textile design. At RCA, she had the freedom to explore her individual style further. Throughout her artistic endeavors as a teenager, to a student in her twenties, she was adamant on having her own process. “I didn’t want anyone to change me,” McNish says, as she reflects on her career at RCA.

“I didn’t want anyone to change me.” - Althea McNish

Inspired by the vibrant landscape and natural flora of the Caribbean, she created colorful worlds in her work by seeing through a “tropical eye.” Drawing on her background as a painter, she used mixed media to create texture and colorful effects. Her knowledge of screen-printing technology gave her the liberty to experiment in her designs. This technical understanding of printing is what established her dialogue with technicians and factory workers during her industry career who were then willing to produce her designs that were unconventional in technique.

“Everything I did I think, I saw it through a tropical eye.” - Althea McNish

Upon graduation in 1958, her portfolio immediately captured the eye of the head of Liberty, a London department store, who then commissioned her to design a range of fabrics for furnishing. Through the same connections at Liberty, she was sent to Zika Ascher’s textile company, where she was commissioned to design a collection for Dior. Her prestigious clients didn’t end there. She continued, working on commissions with Hull Traders, a company that is credited with the colorful pop designs of the 60s. It was at Hull Traders that she made her bestseller, Golden Harvest. This design was inspired by the Essex wheat fields that she saw on a trip, which she compared to sugarcane plantations. Tropicalizing the wheat fields, she abstracted them with bright and saturated colors. Golden Harvest also embodies the impact that McNish had on the British textile field. Prior, fabrics had been polite and somber. McNish spearheaded a new movement of British textiles that in turn transformed British culture.

Her oeuvre of work extended to patterns for around fifty textile and wallpaper manufacturers across Europe and the United States, fabrics for Queen Elizabeth’s wardrobe for her visit to Trinidad and Tobago, and her work has been displayed at numerous exhibitions. Her contributions to design also involved being a board member of the UK Design Council, the Vice President of the Chartered Society of Designers, as well as being a fundamental member of the Caribbean Arts Movement that showcased Afro-Caribbean art and identity to Britain.

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