For Maya Chukwuma, design is about lived experience and connection. A mixed-race designer of Nigerian descent, Chukwuma grew up in a rural part of Scotland, where she felt she had a “fragmented relationship” with race and identity. The designer grew up around creativity. Her grandfather was a photolithographer who liked Alfred Hitchcock films. Her earliest memories are of painting and drawing with him, and she was captivated by Saul Bass’ title cards in the Hitchcock films. From there, a spark of interest in graphic design grew and she pursued the medium as a form of expression.

“I don’t feel like I have a fixed style and I’m not certain that I want or need to have one,” Chukwuma says. “I want to give myself space to evolve and to have the flexibility to respond to different ideas, briefs and contexts. Personally, I want to stay curious and adaptable.”

It’s this penchant for adaptability, growth and an expansive mindset that saw her pursue Communication Design at Glasgow School of Art, where Chukwuma was able to study three pathways. She experimented with graphic design, illustration and photography, before deciding to specialise in the former. “I particularly loved the studio environment at GSA and how hands-on the course allows you to be,” she recalls. “We were heavily encouraged to push boundaries and develop our own voices as designers. I really valued the freedom we were given to take on self-initiated projects which I feel only strengthened my practice.”

In her fourth year, she wrote an essay that grew into the project Roots of Bias – a woven, patterned tapestry based on her own experiences. “I wanted to visually translate the lived experience of Afro hair into pattern and colour,” she explains. “I layered patterns I created, inspired by Afro hair textures and tools, to build a rhythmic surface that feels both intimate and ceremonial.

By translating these private symbols into pattern, I was rehearsing a future without [my Dad], storing his memory within them

“Tight interlocking grids recall the precision of cornrows,” she explains. “Looser, sweeping curves evoke the freedom of untamed coils. Negative space becomes ‘scalp,’  letting each form breathe like strands between partings. The palette comes straight from the culture of care.”

Hair, Chukwuma says, has always been important to her – the texture representing resilience; adornment symbolising power. “Growing up, my hair was something that set me apart from everyone else. I was obsessed with it, I loved it and I felt insecure about it. I felt a pull between pride and discomfort. While I don’t feel this way anymore, doing something for my younger self was emotional and deeply meaningful to me. This feeling is something I value most in my work. I want everything to have purpose and meaning. Whether it’s personal or conceptual, I’m drawn to work that connects.”

There’s also Igbo Kwenu!, a tapestry she made for her father who passed away a month before she finished university. The title of the project is an Igbo term that calls for unity and connection among Igbo people. Chukwuma channelled her grief into the making of the piece, and alongside a pattern inspired by her father’s traditional wrapper, she threaded images of him into the fabric to honour his memory. “I was in so much pain while making this piece, but I feel that piece was a vessel for me to celebrate and remember him,” she reflects. “The passing of my Dad felt like I was losing part of myself. While these thoughts weren’t rational, I felt with him gone I no longer had a claim to my Igbo side.

“Through this piece, I felt I was able to hold onto my identity, not only as inheritance but as something I could make my own. By translating these private symbols into pattern, I was rehearsing a future without him, storing his memory within them. To me, this piece is more of a contract that he will be mine forever.”

While she doesn’t feel wedded to a particular style, Chukwuma is firm in her own values and staying true to her voice as a creative. “I want to continue to make work that feels honest and intentional,” she says. “I’m continuing to make work that follows the path I’ve started to go down – rooted in identity – but I am aware that industry settings can pull you in different directions.

“Finding a fulfilling balance is something I’m thinking about a lot,” she muses. “I’m also slowly learning to not put too much pressure on myself and to be patient as I know that true growth takes time.”

@chook.uma