Joanna came to Heriot Watt towards the end of the first semester and gave an inspiring talk on her practice and her career. Her talk stuck with me and upon graduating, trying to sort out a path for the next stage in my career, I sent her an email asking if I could visit her studio.
She kindly agreed and I went hoping to find out what a professional studio based around a small number (one or two) of people working would look like.
Interesting to see how a screen printing studio works on an artist’s level, rather than a university level. I am trying to understand how studios can be set up and run, with the aim of managing my own in the very near future.
Joanna is clearly on top of her game when it comes to screen printing, she told me that by having the work underpinned by the technical expertise and testing that it gave her the opportunity to be more creative, experimental and free with the printing itself.
Her meticulous methods allow her to recreate every element of her work and use screen printing as a tool, to be a master of her craft. So when something happens by chance and is beautiful, it can be repeated and used again in different work, screen printing can be full of surprises and recording them is essential. It was this principle which inspired me most in Joanna’s talk last year.
She also explained as she showed me each element of her studio that equipment and furniture builds up. You acquire things over the years, she pointed out various things that she had found on the street or been given.
As your career and work grows so does your studio and the equipment, and accoutrements of your trade. Joanna is now self contained; her studio is something she hasn’t acquired over night but something she worked towards, an example of where I could be if I work towards it.
Even though my visit was just a short one which lasted around an hour, I learnt so much just by seeing the arrangement and range of equipment. There will be many things that I have to learn for myself and make on my own, but that feels like part of the challenge and the fun.
I am really looking forward to helping her out with her summer school programme at the end of the month.
For the most part at the moment it is quite empty as we have only being doing bits and pieces of prep work but as soon as we get on that train next week it will be all go. This will be the place where we upload all the progress, connect with participants and upload the viewfinder photographs.
As we are developing the concept of a viewfinder the use of this online social media page to exhibit this small part of the work seems apt. It becomes a frame through which people can explore the place and the work – a digital viewfinder.
Jill Kirkham and I have been chosen to create and exhibit a collaborative piece at Craftspace Collective’s Graduate Festival of Creativity – InSite.
We will be there on the 8th of August and for the last while Jill and I have exchanged many phonecalls and emails pondering the ins and outs of what we wanted to make for this great opportunity.
Working together felt like the most interesting choice, our aesthetic ideals are similar despite the difference in our personal work and in the void after university you really begin to appreciate the interaction with other creatives. Our best moments were in conversation – bouncing ideas off one another and sharing inspiration.
Finally we settled upon producing a work which utilised fabric’s unique quality for adaptation and manipulation in the form of a fishing net-like structure. Knotted within the construction we will suspend viewfinders, objects meant to be looked through, so that we – newcomers to Birmingham– can look with fresh eyes on Pidgeon Park, highlighting and elevating the ordinary and everyday. The installation is a people trap, drawing people in to reward them with new sights of what they might otherwise not have noticed.
The most exciting thing about this work is the way that it is developing with each stage. As Jill and I wanted to use recycled materials, keeping it eco friendly and working with the theme of adaptation, we have had to be open to the materials we could gather.
This has elevated the work and we are constantly refining and honing the piece.
More soon as we develop it further, through more phonecalls, laughter, social media and digging through other peoples old junk.
Hoxa Tapestry Gallery can be found at Hoxa Head on South Ronaldsay, Orkney. The gallery itself, although undergoing construction for expansion, is clean and unassuming – the perfect venue for the large, intricate tapestries created by Leila Thomson.
Even though I had only spent one day on Orkney I could see the islands in the work, the sheer complexity of the woven fabric and the subtlety of the colours creating a lasting impression. The tapestries are certainly that; impressive. The technical skill is evident in the balance of the colours not only in the shapes within the design but also in the careful gradients and shadows.
The gallery also provides an interesting example of reproducing originals through photography, the tapestries are available as art prints.
