3/ BUILDING A COLLABORATIVE PARTNERSHIP: A DAY IN THE STUDIO (part 1)
Linda Bell is an artist who I had worked with briefly a number of years ago, standing in temporarily as an artist tutor for the South London Studio Project. Her artwork uses repeated forms, often set within a grid like structure. She enjoys interacting with her work, especially if it has an element of movement, very much relating to my own work. She had apparently enjoyed working collaboratively within the studio and had not as yet had as many external exhibiting opportunities as her South London studio peers. Possibly remembering me from years past, I had enjoyed meeting Linda again on my visit to the studio, engaging in a ritual of hand touches that she had initiated.
Since Linda lives in a residential home, it was initially important to find out whether logistically this collaborative day could work. Reliant on the support of care workers within her house, it was important that they understood the nature of what was proposed to support a change of routine for Linda. Working with Action Space’s pastoral care worker, Siobhan Stewart, who had already established a good relationship with staff at the home, everything was put in place.
Siobhan knew Linda well, having monitored her care needs as a member of the South London Studio Project. Siobhan acts as an intermediary between families and carers to co-ordinate the care needs of Action Space artists, both during their time in the studio as well as at external events. Talking to Siobhan gave me an invaluable insight into Linda’s needs and how they might affect our collaborative partnership. As an artist that is both deaf and non-verbal, Linda’s use of Makaton is limited. She had previously responded well to a high level of interaction, making clear, considered choices that reflected her strong personality and creative flair. While I was interested to see how we would establish an effective method of communication, I was confident that Linda was able to make herself well understood when she needed to be.
A studio run by Acava at Blenchynden Street in central London was found and two days allocated to set up and host the collaborative day. As an artist who works from home, this was an exciting opportunity. A large, clear studio opening out onto a bright and, hopefully, sunny outdoor space, to do as we liked, felt like a real treat!
I had allowed one day to prepare the studio, considering the sculptural potential of the large selection of materials that I had gathered together. While I in no way wanted to plan the collaborative day, it was important that the space was visually exciting, with materials laid out or assembled in a way that reflected their potential, encouraging interaction. Initially I constructed a series of frames, using off-cut acrylic circles and tubing, suspending them along the centre of the studio. I knew that Linda was interested in weaving and I thought that these forms might work well weaving collaboratively. I laid out a series of tactile materials on one table, loosely dividing the other materials into plastics, metal and fabrics. I had a few basic tools including a glue gun, with some marker pens set to the side in a tin, to pull out if all else failed. After a long period of creating wrapped and woven sculptures, Linda had been begun working on very detailed pencil drawings, partly inspired by a new member of her studio project. Always keen to make the most of the surrounding environment, I detached the top of a sculpture stand to create a base for some transparent tubing. Knowing that Linda enjoyed an element of movement in her sculptural work, I imagined that these might work well in the outdoor space, flexing in the breeze.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/121986263@N05/sets/72157643251975133/
