It is always a surprise as well as gratifying when an aim becomes a reality, especially when that aim starts out more as a wish, in this case one stated in my original Arts Council grant application, which was for my Stitched Time project to tour.
Stitched Time, I am pleased to say, is touring to Folkestone where it will be part of WOW Folkestone 2015, curated by Allegra Galvin (The Quarterhouse), Diane Dever (Folkestone Fringe) and Leah Thorn. WOW Folkestone “celebrates the incredible achievements of women and girls and looks at the most potent topics for women today.”
The exhibition runs from 3 March – 7 March at 2 Church Street, Folkestone, CT20 1SE; Tues-Fri 12-3pm, Sat 11am-4pm.
Stitched Time opens on 2 March from 6-8pm with a conversation hosted by Joanna Jones and myself as artist directors of Dover Arts Development (DAD): Empowering the Individual through the Collective:
“it could be argued that neo-liberal feminism operating within today’s model of capitalism privileges the individual over the collective and is disenfranchising women artists by placing too much emphasis on autonomous agency rather than political agency as a group” (from http://www.thewhitereview.org/art/redressing-the-balance-women-in-the-art-world/)
I am really looking forward to where the discussion might go as part of the thinking behind Stitched Time was to explore alternative models of work and in particular collaborative or collective making processes: “The idea of factory-line dynamics and the parallels that can be drawn with collaborative artistic practice, particularly within a specific community and history, was hinted at interestingly.” (Matthew de Pulford)
The other Stitched Time artists are: Gwen Hedley, Rosie James, Joanna Jones, Claire Manning, Ruth Payne, Linda Simon and Bev Williams and filmmaker Ewan Golder.
I managed to catch Rembrandt: The Late Works at the National Gallery last week. I might have missed it had not been for my mother’s insistence we go and see it and I am so glad I did. The prints blew me away: so much reworking and reworking of the plates, and then each ‘state’ so complete. And I was really interested to see how he used different papers, including Chinese and Japanese papers.
The other thing that struck me at the exhibition was the way he painted hands – they are sometimes really enormous – coming at you right out of the painting.
Thinking of those prints sent me into the studio with a sense of energy and excitement. Today I pulled out some old mono prints which just had a couple of layers of ink and added another layer, which I am going to leave to dry and then work on again.
I also finished another ink on panel drawing last week as a response to the earlier “Held Within” – using freer marks and wet, smudgy lines.
The plan now is to work on a much larger scale.
I had a much needed break over Christmas and New Year – no studio work and very little other work – which gave me time to recuperate from a kidney infection which I’m sure I got from being run down and tired after the gallstone pancreatitis scare and still managing to get the Stitched Time exhibition off the ground. There will be all sorts of health stuff going on this year so I will need to pace myself if I can.
Nonetheless, in terms of studio practice 2015 kicks off with a drawing (shown above) in the Deep East Winter open exhibition at The Mayor’s Parlour Gallery, a return to the studio and some exciting developments planned for later in the year, more of which in due course.
I have also just uploaded my first ever flip book, which is a digital version of the Stitched Time zine: the original was home printed and hand bound using Chinese/Japanese stab binding and red embroidery thread which I sent to all contributors as a rather lovely object. I decided to do the digital version, which of course is not the same, as several people asked if I was planning to do one, which I wasn’t initially. My layout skills are at beginner level but perhaps the small mistakes give the digital version a kind of handmade feel.
Unfortunately my website is down for the moment as it is being ‘migrated’. Luckily I am getting some help with that because although I can FTP my web updates now, after plenty of failed attempts, the email I got regarding the new server had me totally baffled. Dover Arts Development now has a VPS – virtual private server – which can host or manage the DAD website and our own personal sites. I think that is the gist of it anyway but how to actually operate that is going to be a challenge!
Stitched Time finished on 23 November with a delicious celebratory meal for those involved – the warm soup and noodles were very welcome at the end of a very miserable wet day.
Stitched Time refers to both the project and the process, which took place in Dover and the exhibition at Limbo, Margate. I was nearly absent from the opening, having found myself in A&E on the first day of the hang and having to organise the rest of the hang from my hospital bed!
Stitched Time explored the act of stitching as both personal and collective metaphor. “Stitching is something one can do alone, with one’s own thoughts, and an activity that just as easily lends itself to doing in the company of others. The needle is a tool used both to both pierce and repair a surface and the repetitive, time-intensive nature of stitching is redolent of domestic labour. I often use red thread because of the association of red, as the colour of blood, with both life and death.”
Eight of us – all women – all wearing white overalls came together to stitch over 10 Chinese rice paper scrolls in a former tent and tarpaulin factory in Dover. The making process suggestive of an assembly line-cum-sewing circle encompassed conversation, laughter and moments of silence, as well as the practised movements of hands at work.
The project is written up in more detail elsewhere (on my website) so I won’t repeat it here, but will just list some of the key words that characterise the experience:
- non patriarchal
- fun
- conversations
- new friends
- work, labour
- meditative
- repetition
- performance, performative
- simplicity and monumentality
- exciting
- beautiful
- collaboration
- participatory
- authorship
- making
- inclusive
- feminism
- feminine
- craft associations
- Non-competitive
Ruth Geldard has written a review.
The project was supported by Arts Council England.
I have to say I am not complaining about the extended summer, even though my project space gets really really hot in the afternoons and it becomes impossible to work in there! It has been a luxury to have such a big space and it has been perfect for my Stitched Time project. As with all projects, the initial concept has been exactly that – a starting point. I am building up to a show at Limbo in Margate in November which is much closer than it feels.
In connection with that I am calling for zine contributions so please email me for more info if you are interested. The themes are [art]work, [hand]work, stitching and threads, time and also women’s roles in/at work, which covers quite a lot really.
Apart from that, I am, as always, busy with work for DAD. Joanna and I gave a talk recently as part of the Folkestone curated Fringe events and the question came up about balancing studio practice and DAD work. One tends to see the two things as binary opposites although we try to see our practices as integrated – I sometimes talk about different modes of production – but there are so many competing demands on one’s time so that it is not just about juggling studio practice and other forms of practice but about juggling everything including walking the dog, all the stuff that needs doing in the house, family commitments, attending events, going out to see stuff, dealing with the accountant, filing papers, updating the website and other online platforms ….. phew…
…. hence today’s post.
