1 00:00:09,190 --> 00:00:14,050 Welcome, everyone, thank you so much for joining us and joining us here live. 2 00:00:14,050 --> 00:00:24,580 And we are in Oxford, the body library. This is the third talk in the textiles and library series, which we've been running for the past month. 3 00:00:24,580 --> 00:00:32,010 The project is a wider project run by the Bodleian between the conservation and collection teams at the Centre for Study, 4 00:00:32,010 --> 00:00:34,570 the book focussing on textiles in libraries. 5 00:00:34,570 --> 00:00:43,570 So approaching this really broad topic from all different angles, invited speakers from lots of different professions and perspectives on this. 6 00:00:43,570 --> 00:00:49,750 We've had that book conservators so far and curators, and today we are joined by wonderful Alice Fox, 7 00:00:49,750 --> 00:00:55,660 who is a textile artist and maker before, and she's Alice properly and hand over to her. 8 00:00:55,660 --> 00:00:58,930 I'll just do some webinar housekeeping. 9 00:00:58,930 --> 00:01:07,450 This is a Zoom webinar and it's been recorded, but that means that your camera and your microphone are turned off so you won't appear in the video. 10 00:01:07,450 --> 00:01:14,050 But we do really want you to be involved in this conversation at the end, and we're going to have a section for a question and answer session. 11 00:01:14,050 --> 00:01:24,130 So please use the chat box, the Q&A box to write questions as we go and we'll be joining answering any of them at the end. 12 00:01:24,130 --> 00:01:32,980 We're joined here by my colleague Andrew as well. He will be helping us with that at the end and passing of you, the questions. 13 00:01:32,980 --> 00:01:39,820 So the format of today's talk will be. This is going to tell us a bit about our practise, a bit about her work. 14 00:01:39,820 --> 00:01:44,290 She's also brought some objects here, which is amazing, and we're going to show and tell with them. 15 00:01:44,290 --> 00:01:52,960 Then, Alison, we're going to have a conversation, a bit of a chat about things and then we'll get to your questions. 16 00:01:52,960 --> 00:01:57,800 So. Without further ado, I think I'll introduce Alex. 17 00:01:57,800 --> 00:02:03,470 So, Alice Fox, we're really thrilled she's here today to talk to us about her practise. 18 00:02:03,470 --> 00:02:08,570 She's a textile artist based in Saltaire, in West Yorkshire, in the UK. 19 00:02:08,570 --> 00:02:18,680 She comes to a background in sustainable environmental geography before moving into a textile practise and work as an artist. 20 00:02:18,680 --> 00:02:25,070 Her work is deeply rooted in the natural world and found objects and textiles, 21 00:02:25,070 --> 00:02:34,550 so a lot of her work weave these kind of different elements together and often also investigate and explore the book form, 22 00:02:34,550 --> 00:02:39,800 which is something that we've really kind of been excited about when we've seen Alice's work. 23 00:02:39,800 --> 00:02:44,630 So without further ado, I'm going to pass over to Alice, who's going to share a bit of her practise. 24 00:02:44,630 --> 00:02:48,830 We've got a PowerPoint presentation, then look at some subjects. So great job. 25 00:02:48,830 --> 00:02:56,000 Thank you very much. It's wonderful to be here and to be invited to be part of this series. 26 00:02:56,000 --> 00:03:06,470 So I'm as I'm sorry, I said I'm going to introduce to you a series of different projects from my from the last 10 years or so. 27 00:03:06,470 --> 00:03:15,530 And I'm going to kind of run through some slides and and briefly introduce those, and then I'm going to talk through some objects that we've got here. 28 00:03:15,530 --> 00:03:16,580 But I think really, 29 00:03:16,580 --> 00:03:26,120 the theme that runs through all of the things that I'm going to show you is an experimental approach to materials and the use of found materials, 30 00:03:26,120 --> 00:03:35,630 found objects and kind of gathered and grown materials. And so that's the kind of underpinning really and the theme that runs through all of the work. 31 00:03:35,630 --> 00:03:44,150 So Andrew's going to control the slides. OK, so we called this talk stitches leave and smelly old books. 32 00:03:44,150 --> 00:03:47,240 And that that was Alex's idea, really. 33 00:03:47,240 --> 00:03:53,930 But in a way, this kind of encapsulates perhaps the slightly playful mix of materials and so on that I've worked with. 34 00:03:53,930 --> 00:04:05,710 And so if we can just have the first slide. 35 00:04:05,710 --> 00:04:17,130 OK. And so this comes from a project that I did about 10 years ago now I was artist in residence at spun in East Yorkshire. 36 00:04:17,130 --> 00:04:27,540 So it's a nature reserve on the Yorkshire coast, and this was a project where I spent time investigating exploring the landscape and then using 37 00:04:27,540 --> 00:04:34,080 objects and materials from there to and to create work that recorded the place in some way. 38 00:04:34,080 --> 00:04:44,070 And really, this was this was a chance for me to to really engage with objects and materials, particularly from the beach. 39 00:04:44,070 --> 00:04:50,490 So obviously, it's on the coast and because it's a nature reserve, I couldn't use plant material or pick things, 40 00:04:50,490 --> 00:04:58,110 but I could use all the stuff that was washed up on the beach or the structures that were part of the beach defences. 41 00:04:58,110 --> 00:05:04,620 So I was making restaurants and making printing plates and calligraphy plates 42 00:05:04,620 --> 00:05:10,830 and incorporating these kind of different sounds materials into mark making. 43 00:05:10,830 --> 00:05:15,810 So I was working on textiles, and this was not long after I finished my textiles degree. 44 00:05:15,810 --> 00:05:24,300 So what you see is a relatively conventional cloth piece, a long piece, but not marked in very conventional ways. 45 00:05:24,300 --> 00:05:32,130 And so if we have the next slide. And so alongside working on cloth, I was working on paper. 46 00:05:32,130 --> 00:05:42,570 And I mean, I think it's very appropriate in the context of the library here to actually to think of paper as a sort of textile. 47 00:05:42,570 --> 00:05:48,630 And that's really the way that I approach it. Papers is anomalies in and textile, essentially. 48 00:05:48,630 --> 00:05:56,940 And I think often textile artists or textile practitioners will often work with paper quite interchangeably with cloth. 49 00:05:56,940 --> 00:06:06,300 So and that's definitely the way that I work. So I take making the marks, taking the marks that I was making and prints on cloth. 50 00:06:06,300 --> 00:06:16,980 I can make those on paper, too. And then there's a very short step between taking a printed page and folding it into even the simplest book form. 51 00:06:16,980 --> 00:06:27,370 So a concertina book is just taking a a very two dimensional marked surface and creating a three dimensional object. 52 00:06:27,370 --> 00:06:37,530 And so and I think for me, there's definitely a kind of satisfaction in taking that to the surface and creating an object by making a book form, 53 00:06:37,530 --> 00:06:44,900 even in the very simplest form. Next slide. 54 00:06:44,900 --> 00:06:54,770 So being able to to also then show the these book forms in a way that they're not on the wall, they're not behind glass. 55 00:06:54,770 --> 00:07:00,320 So obviously the convention with a print would be to have it framed on the wall. 56 00:07:00,320 --> 00:07:05,600 There's something really nice about how a book form can be engaged with it can be held. 57 00:07:05,600 --> 00:07:11,420 It becomes a journey. It's something tactile. It's it becomes a very different experience. 58 00:07:11,420 --> 00:07:15,860 And that's something that I really kind of enjoyed exploring in this. 59 00:07:15,860 --> 00:07:23,090 This project, particularly so some of these small concertina books were displayed on kind of those shelves, 60 00:07:23,090 --> 00:07:27,110 and this is in the lighthouse that spread during the exhibition. 61 00:07:27,110 --> 00:07:34,820 So they can be kind of there's something a bit more playful, perhaps, about how you can display these. 62 00:07:34,820 --> 00:07:41,120 OK, so so that's taking a mark surface and creating a book as the artwork. 63 00:07:41,120 --> 00:07:47,840 And of course, the book can be that the book can become the starting point. 64 00:07:47,840 --> 00:07:56,030 Obviously, a lot of artists use sketchbooks and notebooks. And that's a kind of classic way of starting and gathering ideas and so on. 65 00:07:56,030 --> 00:08:02,030 And this was a project guest on the pavement that was started off as part of the Sketchbook Project, 66 00:08:02,030 --> 00:08:06,470 which is a project run by the Brooklyn Art Library in New York. 67 00:08:06,470 --> 00:08:11,570 And it's a wonderful kind of a project that's open to anybody. 68 00:08:11,570 --> 00:08:16,850 Anyone can sign up. And you get sent this little black book and then you fill it with whatever you want to, 69 00:08:16,850 --> 00:08:24,350 and it goes back to the library in New York, and some of them also get taken around in their little mobile library. 70 00:08:24,350 --> 00:08:29,660 So this this was the starting point for that project for me that year. 71 00:08:29,660 --> 00:08:37,460 And so I was filling it with the same kind of marks and and textures and so on that I had been using a spoon. 72 00:08:37,460 --> 00:08:45,460 But rather than beachcombing, I was pavement combing. So these are objects that I was picking up on the street near where I live. 73 00:08:45,460 --> 00:08:52,940 And so that becomes an artwork. You know, the little book itself is kind of an artwork, and they these are often digitised. 74 00:08:52,940 --> 00:08:58,430 So there is a version of this that you can look up on the website and you can see the digitised version. 75 00:08:58,430 --> 00:09:04,660 So then the book has become a kind of digital artwork as well that can be accessed from anywhere in the world. 76 00:09:04,660 --> 00:09:10,550 And this also then sparked off a whole series of pieces to We Have the next slide. 77 00:09:10,550 --> 00:09:22,010 I then developed a whole series of work initially on paper so long prints that were displayed as part of an arts trail exhibition in an empty shop. 78 00:09:22,010 --> 00:09:33,950 And then again, another step on the next slide shows a textile piece that was again sparked off from that same starting point of that little book. 79 00:09:33,950 --> 00:09:40,340 So this is a long, thin piece. It's about to meet a little bit more than two metres long called pavement, 80 00:09:40,340 --> 00:09:48,050 and it's it's using those same marks and and textures and prints that was from that very first starting point in a little book you've seen. 81 00:09:48,050 --> 00:09:56,720 And this piece this textile piece is now was acquired by the International Quill Museum in Lincoln, Nebraska. 82 00:09:56,720 --> 00:10:07,610 So, yeah, so that that's a kind of classic example of how a finished textile artwork has kind of taken a journey from the starting point in the book. 83 00:10:07,610 --> 00:10:17,080 Next Slide. OK, so I suppose I wanted to illustrate also how a book can be a sculptural object. 84 00:10:17,080 --> 00:10:27,400 So quite often I've used books as a as a form where it's it's they're not books that have text on the pages that they're not. 85 00:10:27,400 --> 00:10:32,050 They don't have contents in that sense, but they're a sculpture. 86 00:10:32,050 --> 00:10:39,790 Essentially, they're a form. And quite often I've worked with a kind of blank and this is something that I've done in textiles as well. 87 00:10:39,790 --> 00:10:49,900 So I would perhaps weave myself a little blank sections of plain white linen and then use those to do various techniques on those, 88 00:10:49,900 --> 00:10:52,840 and they become a finished piece. 89 00:10:52,840 --> 00:11:00,040 And in a sense, these book units are white, plain stitched book, and it can be the same, so I've treated them the same way. 90 00:11:00,040 --> 00:11:08,460 So this is an example where I took I was I was teaching in a place by the Blackwater estuary in Essex, 91 00:11:08,460 --> 00:11:13,780 and so that workshop I took with me some blank little books that I'd made little Coptic 92 00:11:13,780 --> 00:11:20,530 bound books and and experimented with what happens when you stick it in the estuarine mud. 93 00:11:20,530 --> 00:11:29,680 And if so, there's something very experimental about putting this and putting these structures into different substances, 94 00:11:29,680 --> 00:11:33,880 materials, places and that becomes a record of that place. 95 00:11:33,880 --> 00:11:38,320 And then slowly watching that mud, dry and crack and so on. 96 00:11:38,320 --> 00:11:46,670 And so it's kind of become this sculpture that embodies the experience of that place, kind of. 97 00:11:46,670 --> 00:11:53,640 Similarly, this is a small book, which I've got with me, so I'll show you in person in a few minutes. 98 00:11:53,640 --> 00:12:03,050 And so this was another of these blanks where I just made a simple Coptic bound book unit and this was just simply left out in the garden. 99 00:12:03,050 --> 00:12:08,270 And I actually can't remember when I first left it out there and how long it was out there. 100 00:12:08,270 --> 00:12:18,500 It just kind of got forgotten about. But during the time it was out, which was certainly months, if not in a year or two, it got whether it got wet. 101 00:12:18,500 --> 00:12:23,030 It was kind of nibbled by snails and it's got algae on it. 102 00:12:23,030 --> 00:12:32,000 And and the final piece is now kind of it's actually very fragile, but there's something now reminiscent of layers of rock. 103 00:12:32,000 --> 00:12:43,310 Or, you know, it's it's taken on this real kind of embodiment of as being outside and being in a landscape and also in its current form. 104 00:12:43,310 --> 00:12:49,610 It then kind of it's reminiscent of a small Mike Bourque, which again, 105 00:12:49,610 --> 00:12:53,000 I've got with me and I'll show you in a few minutes and which is something an 106 00:12:53,000 --> 00:12:58,310 object that I've had for a long time and is a is a naturally occurring object. 107 00:12:58,310 --> 00:13:04,160 So and I think again, this is an example of where as an artist, we we try things out, 108 00:13:04,160 --> 00:13:10,880 we experiment and we don't necessarily know where it's going or what what its aim is aimed at. 109 00:13:10,880 --> 00:13:22,220 It's just exploring and, you know, kind of being curious about the world and what happens when you do this and kind of slide. 110 00:13:22,220 --> 00:13:31,970 OK, so this is an example, again of a body of work that was sparked by just asking myself a simple question. 111 00:13:31,970 --> 00:13:39,940 And so walking in the woods having donned a cardigan hole in a cardigan the night before and I picked up a leaf with a hole in it? 112 00:13:39,940 --> 00:13:45,350 All right. Well, that needs donning. And I know not everybody would go home and then actually try and do that. 113 00:13:45,350 --> 00:13:50,120 But these are the kind of things that kind of get me and get me excited. 114 00:13:50,120 --> 00:13:55,520 So I did go home and tried to don the Leaf and turns out it's quite difficult. 115 00:13:55,520 --> 00:14:02,540 But but then started to explore different leaves as materials. 116 00:14:02,540 --> 00:14:03,620 And I think again, 117 00:14:03,620 --> 00:14:11,720 this is part of this kind of thread that runs through my work is engaging with the materials that I find around me and exploring those. 118 00:14:11,720 --> 00:14:19,880 And by working with materials, you learn what their boundaries are, what the properties are and and just get to know them. 119 00:14:19,880 --> 00:14:25,850 And there's a there's a real kind of beauty in that engagement with materials. 120 00:14:25,850 --> 00:14:35,120 So stitching the leaves, then if we have the next slide became something that I then each time I tried a different lace, 121 00:14:35,120 --> 00:14:44,090 it would kind of lead onto, well, what I would try with this leaf or what each each type of leaf I tried, perhaps, and not all of them worked. 122 00:14:44,090 --> 00:14:47,060 Some of them. Some of them were complete disasters. 123 00:14:47,060 --> 00:14:54,410 But that's how you learn and and figuring out how to use at what stage to use each different type of leaf. 124 00:14:54,410 --> 00:14:59,600 Some of them were better to work with when they were fresh, some when they were dried and some in between. 125 00:14:59,600 --> 00:15:04,700 And so my confidence and an experience grew with these different materials. 126 00:15:04,700 --> 00:15:14,540 And then if we have the next one, this moved on to then working three dimensionally with these materials and and eventually some some little 127 00:15:14,540 --> 00:15:21,110 experimental book forms that this was with eucalyptus leaves and there's a eucalyptus tree at the end of my street. 128 00:15:21,110 --> 00:15:27,620 And that became a real focus for a lot of these experiments because they were particularly nice to work with. 129 00:15:27,620 --> 00:15:31,430 So I was intrigued to think, well, if I constituent with slapped could, I could. 130 00:15:31,430 --> 00:15:38,930 Could I make a book of leaves? And of course, this the the the kind of analogy of the leaves of a book. 131 00:15:38,930 --> 00:15:43,820 So it was it was an obvious one to try and I think as another image. 132 00:15:43,820 --> 00:15:50,540 Hautement, OK, so the Leaf books then became there was one with oak leaves and there was one with sage leaves. 133 00:15:50,540 --> 00:15:55,970 And yeah, so it was all part of that experimented with the materials. 134 00:15:55,970 --> 00:16:02,570 So and then of course, I was would also explore other materials. 135 00:16:02,570 --> 00:16:07,970 So this is an example of working with conquered shell and kind. 136 00:16:07,970 --> 00:16:12,380 I've worked with other similar sounds, natural objects. 137 00:16:12,380 --> 00:16:19,940 And by and again, by engaging with the materials these objects, I find a way that works or don't. 138 00:16:19,940 --> 00:16:29,450 And again, that's all part of the learning and develop techniques and every every type of material is going to be different. 139 00:16:29,450 --> 00:16:35,030 But there's something really satisfying about finding a way of engaging with with these different materials. 140 00:16:35,030 --> 00:16:43,940 And then as you're working with them, just getting spending time with the material and getting to know that the properties and the individual, 141 00:16:43,940 --> 00:16:47,440 each each individual item is different to work with. 142 00:16:47,440 --> 00:16:52,810 And I got to know it as I work with it. OK. 143 00:16:52,810 --> 00:17:00,850 OK, so I wanted to tell you a little bit about the project that I did a few years ago, up in Newcastle at the Newcastle City Library. 144 00:17:00,850 --> 00:17:03,310 So again, this was a kind of residency project. 145 00:17:03,310 --> 00:17:11,170 It was part of an Arts Council funded professional development programme for artists in the North East. 146 00:17:11,170 --> 00:17:22,950 And I was one of the lead artists invited to make work, so we were invited to respond to the oversized book collection in the library. 147 00:17:22,950 --> 00:17:26,530 And I love these kind of the jargon that goes with this. 148 00:17:26,530 --> 00:17:31,750 So this this this sign kind of encapsulates that, really. 149 00:17:31,750 --> 00:17:42,030 So basically, it was an invitation to just respond creatively to to whatever aspect of the collection I wanted to and. 150 00:17:42,030 --> 00:17:52,500 So the the book that really struck me having visited and and and kept quite an open mind about what I was going to explore and from this collection, 151 00:17:52,500 --> 00:17:54,670 this was the particular book that really struck me. 152 00:17:54,670 --> 00:18:02,220 So the thing that was intriguing about this to me was that it was, you can see it's tied up with string. 153 00:18:02,220 --> 00:18:12,390 It was so falling apart and it lost its spine that the the library tied up a string, so to stop it falling apart even more. 154 00:18:12,390 --> 00:18:18,660 And in many ways, this was this stopped me getting to worried about what the book was about. 155 00:18:18,660 --> 00:18:22,320 And I could really just focus on the book as an object. 156 00:18:22,320 --> 00:18:29,190 And I was so intrigued by its its textures and its and its state, its kind of quite dilapidated state. 157 00:18:29,190 --> 00:18:36,550 And that was what I then kind of explored in the work that I developed. 158 00:18:36,550 --> 00:18:43,780 So the project involved kind of a period of being in residence, working in the library. 159 00:18:43,780 --> 00:18:53,950 And so I was working with discarded papers, so I created a piece of work that was partly with discarded library paper, 160 00:18:53,950 --> 00:19:02,880 some discarded books, newspapers, magazines and and partly with with new paper as well. 161 00:19:02,880 --> 00:19:13,300 And so I was was creating a piece that that really kind of encapsulated some of the different textures and elements that were in that original book. 162 00:19:13,300 --> 00:19:23,120 So this is an image of a kind of working through those pages and and dividing things into sections that I could then make little book units with. 163 00:19:23,120 --> 00:19:31,430 And then this is part of the the final final piece, so and again, I've got this with me, so I can I can talk through some of it in a moment. 164 00:19:31,430 --> 00:19:37,490 So this piece was it's called unknown book because to me, this book was was unknown. 165 00:19:37,490 --> 00:19:45,740 I don't know what it was about. I have my suspicions. But in a sense, that was quite it was kind of easier not to know, really. 166 00:19:45,740 --> 00:19:52,520 And it was a one of six units that I made made up of lots of different little sections. 167 00:19:52,520 --> 00:19:56,240 And these were then displayed and they on the library shelves. 168 00:19:56,240 --> 00:19:58,460 I think the next slide shows that. 169 00:19:58,460 --> 00:20:07,340 And so during the exhibition, the artworks were displayed around the library and this was it was literally just amongst the normal books. 170 00:20:07,340 --> 00:20:12,120 And there was something really nice about that, that it was it wasn't in a gallery. 171 00:20:12,120 --> 00:20:15,020 It wasn't separated, it was in amongst the books. 172 00:20:15,020 --> 00:20:21,680 And anybody visiting the library might happen upon it, or they might not even really notice it was there. 173 00:20:21,680 --> 00:20:29,690 But there was something kind of, you know, again, quite playful about how it might be might be found. 174 00:20:29,690 --> 00:20:35,310 OK. So just just to move on to some kind of more current work, 175 00:20:35,310 --> 00:20:43,740 so I currently use my allotment thought as a source of materials and inspiration for my work. 176 00:20:43,740 --> 00:20:47,310 So this is involved over the last four years. 177 00:20:47,310 --> 00:20:52,830 Over the four years, I've had the plot exploring all sorts of different materials available there. 178 00:20:52,830 --> 00:20:58,860 So I've been making inks from the plants that are available, some of which you see here. 179 00:20:58,860 --> 00:21:04,410 So that that's kind of partly an exercise in exploring those the potential of what's there, 180 00:21:04,410 --> 00:21:08,370 but also in kind of mapping and and using those things to draw with. 181 00:21:08,370 --> 00:21:15,300 I think the next slide shows that again, so drawing some of the other objects that might be found there. 182 00:21:15,300 --> 00:21:23,150 So these are little ceramic fragments that get dug up. And then the drawing at the bottom is and using the inks I've made. 183 00:21:23,150 --> 00:21:28,020 And so there's a there's a real kind of meaning I sent in and using the things 184 00:21:28,020 --> 00:21:32,800 that have been I've made from the plot to draw other things from the plot. 185 00:21:32,800 --> 00:21:43,770 And next slide and another sort of series of experiments which resulted in an artwork that was book based, was this called 52 Weeks? 186 00:21:43,770 --> 00:21:47,310 So this was taken making a little book for one, 187 00:21:47,310 --> 00:21:57,510 one a week for a year and using botanical contact printing to transfer pigment from the plants onto the pages of these little books. 188 00:21:57,510 --> 00:22:07,710 And so these were then displayed as a kind of calendar of the whole year and a sort of record of that have not yet in time. 189 00:22:07,710 --> 00:22:15,780 And here you can see them displayed, so and I think those are these and it kind of reflects the way that I've displayed them. 190 00:22:15,780 --> 00:22:25,740 They were pinned up with entomology pins and there's something almost kind of natural history collection kind of referenced in there as well. 191 00:22:25,740 --> 00:22:31,440 So you know that they're almost like butterflies with the way that the pages sit there and look. 192 00:22:31,440 --> 00:22:36,420 And then I think we're just going to get just to kind of finish off the slide. 193 00:22:36,420 --> 00:22:45,210 So I've worked a lot with plant fibres that are on the plot. So I've been growing flax and processing that and also using nettle that grows there. 194 00:22:45,210 --> 00:22:51,630 But I'm increasingly interested in some of the what the weeds particularly. 195 00:22:51,630 --> 00:22:58,050 And this is dandelion stems, which have been twisted into cord edge and then woven. 196 00:22:58,050 --> 00:23:07,030 And I'm becoming quite obsessed now with with all the possibilities that I can do with with these, these different plant fibres that I've gathered. 197 00:23:07,030 --> 00:23:11,610 And I think that's one more slide yet another. 198 00:23:11,610 --> 00:23:12,180 So again, 199 00:23:12,180 --> 00:23:21,600 it's I'm using using the dandelions braided and then that they're stitched together again with dandelion stems and they're surprisingly strong. 200 00:23:21,600 --> 00:23:30,900 And so I've made this kind of strip cloth and and and again, this is a very much kind of ongoing and lives kind of series of work. 201 00:23:30,900 --> 00:23:34,640 Really think that's the last slide might be wrong? 202 00:23:34,640 --> 00:23:44,000 Yeah. OK. So and so I can show you some of the objects we've got next to me here and. 203 00:23:44,000 --> 00:23:49,470 The switch on today, the other camera. Right. 204 00:23:49,470 --> 00:23:53,790 Okay, so I've got the you should see my hands. 205 00:23:53,790 --> 00:24:02,160 I've got the one of the units of unknown book here, and I just wanted to to show a little bit more about about this. 206 00:24:02,160 --> 00:24:09,360 So obviously these were shown sitting upright on the library shelves and they had they 207 00:24:09,360 --> 00:24:17,010 had perspex over the top or acrylic to to protect them from the library goers hands. 208 00:24:17,010 --> 00:24:21,640 But these do actually kind of come up, come out. So the different sections chase. 209 00:24:21,640 --> 00:24:32,090 I just think that. And you can say so this is an example of one of the the book units that was made from 210 00:24:32,090 --> 00:24:37,850 a deconstructed book that had been discarded by the library for whatever reason, 211 00:24:37,850 --> 00:24:46,790 and which I then deconstructed and reconstructed into a stitched, Coptic bound book form. 212 00:24:46,790 --> 00:24:48,980 And again, as I said before, 213 00:24:48,980 --> 00:24:55,910 there's something so three dimensional about the possibilities of a book form like this and the way that it moves and so on, 214 00:24:55,910 --> 00:25:00,050 which which I just find really attractive. And so that's one of the units. 215 00:25:00,050 --> 00:25:10,730 There are units made from all sorts of different bits of discarded papers and so on, including also a bound piece. 216 00:25:10,730 --> 00:25:19,220 This is newspaper sections that were just found. So reflecting the fact that the book the original inspiration book was just bound up with string. 217 00:25:19,220 --> 00:25:23,390 And so that is one of the units. 218 00:25:23,390 --> 00:25:30,830 Another section here again, a little bit more playful, which is a I don't know how well you can see that, 219 00:25:30,830 --> 00:25:36,920 but again, it's Coptic bound, stitched tiny little book sections and the movement. 220 00:25:36,920 --> 00:25:45,530 And it is just, you know, obviously something very kind of natural and almost like a slinky or something that could be could be played with. 221 00:25:45,530 --> 00:25:51,410 So one of the things about this, this sort of section, this group of units, 222 00:25:51,410 --> 00:26:00,240 and I think in a way this is reflected in the way that I like to show work is that it's made up of units that could be rearranged again. 223 00:26:00,240 --> 00:26:08,240 There's something playful. I know I keep saying that word, but there's something about how you could, you know, you could move things around. 224 00:26:08,240 --> 00:26:14,510 You can you can take sections out and and and arrange them in different ways. 225 00:26:14,510 --> 00:26:18,760 So that's something that I quite like to do is just not present. 226 00:26:18,760 --> 00:26:31,400 And so I've got the the little garden book that it's as I said, it's very fragile and you can just see the where the stitching was. 227 00:26:31,400 --> 00:26:40,370 But the sections that have been kind of eaten away there and it's it's nice and kind of crusty and so on, and it feels almost like stone. 228 00:26:40,370 --> 00:26:52,430 It's it's really kind of solid. And this, in a way, getting this back out to show in this part, the talk reminded me of this little Miche book. 229 00:26:52,430 --> 00:26:57,380 So this is this is naturally occurring mineral, the mineral mica. 230 00:26:57,380 --> 00:27:09,710 And this is a piece of a little section that I was given that was found by when when I was walking as a child with family and some family friends. 231 00:27:09,710 --> 00:27:14,870 And it's one of those things that I've just always kept and, you know, almost forgot I had it. 232 00:27:14,870 --> 00:27:22,460 But getting this book out just reminded me of it, and I'm really pleased I managed to find it and bring it along because it just it again. 233 00:27:22,460 --> 00:27:25,100 It's this making links, and I think as an artist, 234 00:27:25,100 --> 00:27:33,100 you're constantly making links back to other things and things remind you of things and spark of other little ideas. 235 00:27:33,100 --> 00:27:38,060 And this is an example of that. And who knows where this might then kind of go next? 236 00:27:38,060 --> 00:27:47,760 You know that. Yeah. Watch this space. And so I'll just put those to one side and move some of the debris. 237 00:27:47,760 --> 00:27:52,670 And I've got again one of the examples of those of the 52 weeks. 238 00:27:52,670 --> 00:28:00,570 So this this is one week in that this is from, I think, sometime autumnal. 239 00:28:00,570 --> 00:28:10,240 Yeah, it's from. November. And so it just it just so that you can save it closer to the kind of leaf prints that are on these. 240 00:28:10,240 --> 00:28:15,130 And they are they are quite experimental, you know, you never know quite what you're going to get with these processes. 241 00:28:15,130 --> 00:28:20,320 And again, that that is again, a theme that runs through the way that I work. 242 00:28:20,320 --> 00:28:26,110 It's very much process led. It's about kind of asking a question, 243 00:28:26,110 --> 00:28:34,900 trying something out and then just see what happens rather than kind of a specifically designed outcome since that one. 244 00:28:34,900 --> 00:28:41,410 And I did bring a stitch leaf because Alice asked me to. 245 00:28:41,410 --> 00:28:49,210 This is this is a recent one, actually, because I was putting some samples together for a book. 246 00:28:49,210 --> 00:28:58,660 And so this was a very recent piece. And and so it's it's a great series of little leaves that that a sycamore little stack of 247 00:28:58,660 --> 00:29:03,760 sycamore leaves and they've got this kind of series of running stitches through them. 248 00:29:03,760 --> 00:29:09,630 So this one's not a book, but it's kind of related, really. 249 00:29:09,630 --> 00:29:18,060 And I've also brought one of my little rusty metal pieces, so I've worked a lot with rusty metal, 250 00:29:18,060 --> 00:29:24,960 and I think this is probably something that will come back to in the discussion. But this is an example where I am. 251 00:29:24,960 --> 00:29:35,490 So I've woven a textile strip that's then can encapsulated in the within this found metal object. 252 00:29:35,490 --> 00:29:43,980 This is a piece that was found on a beach, and I love the kind of three dimensional little box and then the the piece of fabric 253 00:29:43,980 --> 00:29:48,600 that I've always and has been been put in there and then it's been left in seawater 254 00:29:48,600 --> 00:29:55,770 so that it so that it specifically stains the fabric and so on that I've made and 255 00:29:55,770 --> 00:30:02,510 that I I've done a whole series of of works that that use that kind of process. 256 00:30:02,510 --> 00:30:03,860 And then just lastly, 257 00:30:03,860 --> 00:30:13,690 I brought I brought one of these dandelion braids just to just to show really how kind of strong and flexible this this is, really. 258 00:30:13,690 --> 00:30:18,680 And so it's I think it's really nice to actually see it handled because, you know, 259 00:30:18,680 --> 00:30:25,550 you can say something on a on a on a static picture, and it doesn't necessarily tell you very much about the properties. 260 00:30:25,550 --> 00:30:33,590 But when you see it, how flexible and strong it is, then it really tells a different story. 261 00:30:33,590 --> 00:30:38,190 Can. Wow. Thank you so much. 262 00:30:38,190 --> 00:30:41,070 That was incredible, and thank you so much for bringing you the objects. 263 00:30:41,070 --> 00:30:48,120 I think that was really amazing to kind of after your presentation to see the scale because I think 264 00:30:48,120 --> 00:30:53,280 that's a question I'd quite like to ask to start off with just with the unknown book project I. 265 00:30:53,280 --> 00:30:59,430 When you got that, your bag was quite surprised by the scale because the box itself is quite large for all. 266 00:30:59,430 --> 00:31:06,330 The individual elements are really small, and you were saying that that project was responding to the like the the larger box. 267 00:31:06,330 --> 00:31:10,320 Yeah. So kind of can you talk a little bit about why you've chosen small things? 268 00:31:10,320 --> 00:31:19,380 Yeah. And so I think one of the considerations in starting that project particularly was this is all about oversized votes. 269 00:31:19,380 --> 00:31:21,510 But you could kind of look at that in different ways. 270 00:31:21,510 --> 00:31:30,660 You know, you could you could create something on a large scale or you could look at this kind of play between small and large scale and in a way, 271 00:31:30,660 --> 00:31:37,330 so that's just one of 16 units. So the piece itself was was quite large scale. 272 00:31:37,330 --> 00:31:46,650 The individual unit was kind of a similar size to some of the books in the the oversized book collection. 273 00:31:46,650 --> 00:31:47,150 But. 274 00:31:47,150 --> 00:31:57,100 But by making it out of little tiny units and kind of accumulating the bigger piece, I mean, in a way, it's just it's a way that I'm comfortable work. 275 00:31:57,100 --> 00:32:02,340 I like the the the tactile ness of working on a small scale. 276 00:32:02,340 --> 00:32:08,280 It's manageable. You can you can kind of create sections and see it amassing. 277 00:32:08,280 --> 00:32:12,660 And there's something just very practical about that, actually. 278 00:32:12,660 --> 00:32:18,960 And it's very portable. So actually, I worked on a lot of those little sections in various different places. 279 00:32:18,960 --> 00:32:25,530 And you know, they can be they can be transferred between the studio and home and wherever else. 280 00:32:25,530 --> 00:32:27,810 So there's a whole mix of kind of reasons, really. 281 00:32:27,810 --> 00:32:37,530 But but I mean, the main thing with that particular project was that the book that I was using as inspiration was it was split. 282 00:32:37,530 --> 00:32:47,250 It had the sections it had. The spine was split into sections and it had then obviously the binding kind of created this grid. 283 00:32:47,250 --> 00:32:56,040 So to have this divided grid in which my little sections would set just completely forget it, they the original book. 284 00:32:56,040 --> 00:33:00,440 So yeah, so that that's yeah, that's how it came about. I think that's actually wonderful. 285 00:33:00,440 --> 00:33:04,110 So there are six units you say of the Perspex. Yeah. 286 00:33:04,110 --> 00:33:10,770 Wow. Because when I read up about that project, yeah, I just didn't get a grasp of the scale because how many individual small bindings, 287 00:33:10,770 --> 00:33:16,260 although I've been there, probably about 150 separate little units in there. 288 00:33:16,260 --> 00:33:22,950 Yeah, absolutely amazing. I particularly love the really long sculpted bound one. 289 00:33:22,950 --> 00:33:27,780 Yeah, I should come back to that and see how long you could actually make it. 290 00:33:27,780 --> 00:33:32,820 You could just go on and on. I might ask you another question, but one of the other things you brought in. 291 00:33:32,820 --> 00:33:37,920 So I did ask you to bring in, in particular the the small book, which you left outside. 292 00:33:37,920 --> 00:33:45,060 Yeah, because as a conservator. So we're talking to you from a library and I'm a book conservator working on a conservation department. 293 00:33:45,060 --> 00:33:48,600 Just a lot of our work is, well, purpose. 294 00:33:48,600 --> 00:33:56,280 So my work is to kind of preserve the collections for future, for future readers. 295 00:33:56,280 --> 00:34:02,430 But I see in your work a lot of kind of deliberate part of your process is allowing things to decay, 296 00:34:02,430 --> 00:34:07,410 to change natural processes to occur with the rust, things like that. 297 00:34:07,410 --> 00:34:15,270 I was wondering kind of if you could talk a bit more about kind of that process and why you're drawn to allowing that happen? 298 00:34:15,270 --> 00:34:23,640 And then also a little bit about how you respond to kind of the perspective like this perspective of kind of like. 299 00:34:23,640 --> 00:34:27,090 When an object comes in within like we want to preserve and it's safe, 300 00:34:27,090 --> 00:34:33,950 obviously these are kind of things that are very organic and changing, and part of your process was letting it change and observing that. 301 00:34:33,950 --> 00:34:37,850 I'm not sure if that's a question, but if you could comment on this, it is quite low in that. 302 00:34:37,850 --> 00:34:46,490 And so I mean, for me, using natural processes is a that that's a it's an ethical considerations. 303 00:34:46,490 --> 00:34:57,260 So so my work is I hope that my practise or I aim to make my practise as sustainable as possible and some may using natural processes is key to that. 304 00:34:57,260 --> 00:35:03,890 And natural materials and I'm part of the the the more recent move to use the materials from my 305 00:35:03,890 --> 00:35:10,640 allotment was about exploring self-sufficiency in materials as a as an environmental statement, 306 00:35:10,640 --> 00:35:18,590 if you like or just and just to be making my practise as as responsible as possible. 307 00:35:18,590 --> 00:35:26,750 And so it, you know, it makes sense to be using what's around me and and and working with those natural cycles and so on, 308 00:35:26,750 --> 00:35:36,620 and that just feels right and exciting. And the process of change, I mean, I suppose I I tend I put things, I allow things to change. 309 00:35:36,620 --> 00:35:45,590 But then I I perhaps make a decision at what point it's finished or at what point I stop that change. 310 00:35:45,590 --> 00:35:50,780 So I mean, with that, the pace that that was the little book that was left out in the garden. 311 00:35:50,780 --> 00:35:57,530 I mean, I could have left it out there to just completely eventually disintegrate. 312 00:35:57,530 --> 00:36:01,940 But I suppose at some point I perhaps rediscovered it and thought, 313 00:36:01,940 --> 00:36:10,770 I'll bring it inside now and then on drying out it then almost becomes a finished piece. 314 00:36:10,770 --> 00:36:14,660 Depends what you mean by finished. And you know what the intention was to start with. 315 00:36:14,660 --> 00:36:20,840 It was just an experiment, really. But then you can explore it in different ways. 316 00:36:20,840 --> 00:36:24,140 So I think I mean, as I said, my work is process led. 317 00:36:24,140 --> 00:36:32,410 So so I'm just I'm allowing these processes to happen and I'm intrigued by watching that happen and and so on. 318 00:36:32,410 --> 00:36:37,220 And I realised that my work is probably conservationists nightmare. 319 00:36:37,220 --> 00:36:45,230 But but in a sense, you know, that's only a very recent realisation because I'm not making these pieces with the 320 00:36:45,230 --> 00:36:51,530 expectation that they would go into a collection and they needed to be kept the same. 321 00:36:51,530 --> 00:36:57,170 People often ask me about the work and whether, you know, particularly the leaf pieces or working with these materials. 322 00:36:57,170 --> 00:37:00,290 I say, well, well, are they not just going to disintegrate? 323 00:37:00,290 --> 00:37:05,840 And yes, if I left them outside to get wet, they would they would break down fairly quickly. 324 00:37:05,840 --> 00:37:12,320 But if they're brought inside, unless they're kept dry and so on, actually, they're long, you know, they're quite long lived. 325 00:37:12,320 --> 00:37:18,410 And yes, they will keep changing. And that's going to depend on light levels and all sorts of things. 326 00:37:18,410 --> 00:37:23,840 But that doesn't necessarily worry me. 327 00:37:23,840 --> 00:37:32,000 And partly, I think, you know, there's so much in this world that is it's there's too much stuff in the world and there's almost an arrogance, 328 00:37:32,000 --> 00:37:37,100 perhaps to creating something and then expecting that it will stay the same 329 00:37:37,100 --> 00:37:42,860 forever because that's where we've got into the mess we have environmentally so. 330 00:37:42,860 --> 00:37:53,320 So for me to make work that actually, I mean, some of it might outlive me, but to look kind of further beyond that just seems unsustainable. 331 00:37:53,320 --> 00:38:00,770 And then, of course, being able to photograph things and and, you know, like a lot of people working with, you know, 332 00:38:00,770 --> 00:38:09,710 very ephemeral things, then the photographs becomes the artwork and there are, you know, there are different ways of of recording that. 333 00:38:09,710 --> 00:38:14,130 I mean, all of the projects, all of the sort of big projects I've done, 334 00:38:14,130 --> 00:38:22,770 I've I've published self-published books about those and that becomes almost becomes the record of it. 335 00:38:22,770 --> 00:38:27,500 And, you know, in a way of sharing the work widely. And so, yeah, definitely. 336 00:38:27,500 --> 00:38:34,400 Well, thank you for that. That was, yeah, amazing. I quite like to also go back to textiles as well. 337 00:38:34,400 --> 00:38:40,760 That's obviously textiles in libraries. And you've got this beautiful the down to this dandelion one, isn't it? 338 00:38:40,760 --> 00:38:43,070 Of the. I wonder if he could use that. 339 00:38:43,070 --> 00:38:49,820 You said that you're really led by the processes and you were investigating different weeds and things like that. 340 00:38:49,820 --> 00:39:00,260 Do you kind of is possibly your fascination with weeds and kind of remaking the cottage and making them into these bigger pieces of art? 341 00:39:00,260 --> 00:39:05,480 Do you feel that transforms them kind of like elevates them from this kind of. 342 00:39:05,480 --> 00:39:09,180 A comment what they're saying is, but what is a weed, 343 00:39:09,180 --> 00:39:15,290 why do we call certain plants weeds where it can become something really beautiful and strong and useful? 344 00:39:15,290 --> 00:39:21,830 Is that something that? Yeah. I mean, so the the classification of a weed is something that's growing. 345 00:39:21,830 --> 00:39:25,550 It is not, and it's growing in the wrong place. 346 00:39:25,550 --> 00:39:30,860 That's not quite the right word, but so anything essentially could be become a weed. 347 00:39:30,860 --> 00:39:34,670 If it's depending on where it's growing and I think, yeah, 348 00:39:34,670 --> 00:39:46,370 definitely there is a there's a kind of there's something really interesting about taking a very humble plant and something that's that is sort of, 349 00:39:46,370 --> 00:39:50,810 you know, there's a bit of a kind of love hate relationship with with some of these things. 350 00:39:50,810 --> 00:39:53,300 I've been working a lot with behind weed as well. 351 00:39:53,300 --> 00:40:02,510 I mean, it's the bane of my life on the allotment, but it's really strong and I'm finding ways to work with it that are really satisfying. 352 00:40:02,510 --> 00:40:10,850 And so there's something and, you know, I don't even have to I don't have to try to cultivate this bunch of it around. 353 00:40:10,850 --> 00:40:17,120 So, you know, I I'm quite intrigued by using these kind of unconventional things. 354 00:40:17,120 --> 00:40:22,550 And of course, not all of them is, you know, there are some things that I might try. And then I find out, Well, actually, it's not. 355 00:40:22,550 --> 00:40:26,870 It's not so satisfying. It's not so strong, whatever. So I wouldn't go back to them. 356 00:40:26,870 --> 00:40:31,970 And it just happens that actually quite a lot of the things that are abundant, so the nettles, 357 00:40:31,970 --> 00:40:39,100 the bind, weed, the dandelions, you know, these are these are abundant plants in around here. 358 00:40:39,100 --> 00:40:45,200 And and so to be able to make use of those, I mean, I'm finding that the dandelion. 359 00:40:45,200 --> 00:40:49,550 It's amazing. It's it's got this beautiful sheen. It's it's strong. 360 00:40:49,550 --> 00:40:53,930 It's the colour variations in a beautiful. 361 00:40:53,930 --> 00:40:59,330 It's I'm constantly being surprised by it and having discovered that it's kind of 362 00:40:59,330 --> 00:41:03,500 pleasant to work with and then really kind of exploring what the possibilities are. 363 00:41:03,500 --> 00:41:12,120 And and I suppose, like I've described without the other projects with things like working with the leaves attend, you know, once I've asked my. 364 00:41:12,120 --> 00:41:17,250 Itself a question it then leads on to other questions and the there. 365 00:41:17,250 --> 00:41:24,900 It is just a kind of organic process, really in finding new ways to use it. 366 00:41:24,900 --> 00:41:33,810 And as as the as the technique kind of builds up and so on and something I found quite fascinating following on Instagram, 367 00:41:33,810 --> 00:41:35,730 you flex growing on your allotment. 368 00:41:35,730 --> 00:41:45,120 I wonder if you could just talk a little bit about that process and how have you successfully kind of completed that process? 369 00:41:45,120 --> 00:41:56,370 Have you managed to make five textile fibres from it? And because it's quite an intensive process, and it's so it's it's just long winded, really. 370 00:41:56,370 --> 00:42:01,830 So, so growing the flux is not difficult and it's gorgeous. 371 00:42:01,830 --> 00:42:05,610 And you know, it's worth growing it just for the beautiful blue flowers. 372 00:42:05,610 --> 00:42:13,500 And then there's a whole series of processes you have to go through to get it to a spinner boll weevil fibre. 373 00:42:13,500 --> 00:42:17,640 And you have done that a number of on a number of different years now. 374 00:42:17,640 --> 00:42:27,770 And so I learnt the basics of that from a weaver, Susie Gillespie, who who similarly grows her own flax to use in her work. 375 00:42:27,770 --> 00:42:34,350 And and then each year I've done it, I've learnt a little bit more and it's different. 376 00:42:34,350 --> 00:42:42,440 You know, again, it's this this kind of appreciation of the of the cycles, but also the detail of how things are at every season. 377 00:42:42,440 --> 00:42:49,230 And it's going to be different because of the slightly different weather conditions or the way that you that you read it, 378 00:42:49,230 --> 00:42:52,860 which is one of the things you have to do. So and just again, 379 00:42:52,860 --> 00:43:02,220 it's it's that engagement with with the material and to be able to take it from seed to then kind of go through all those processes. 380 00:43:02,220 --> 00:43:03,120 It means that, you know, 381 00:43:03,120 --> 00:43:12,630 even this the smallest bowl of sponge fibre becomes this ready to make precious thing because I know what work and time has gone into. 382 00:43:12,630 --> 00:43:19,680 That certainly makes you appreciate your clothing when you know when you when you think about how 383 00:43:19,680 --> 00:43:25,440 certainly in the past people would have been having to process to provide these fibres themselves. 384 00:43:25,440 --> 00:43:32,790 I mean, I'm certainly not creating and I'm not this level where I'm creating a spendable fibre for something that I might wear. 385 00:43:32,790 --> 00:43:39,090 But to be honest, that actually doesn't interest me as much as being more experimental with it. 386 00:43:39,090 --> 00:43:45,300 But you know, there are people, there are people I know who who are doing that, and it was an amazing project. 387 00:43:45,300 --> 00:43:49,320 Yeah, there are really exciting. And also to be able to to re-engage. 388 00:43:49,320 --> 00:44:00,690 I mean, we we we've lost our commercial linen industry in this country, but there are people now who are rediscovering that and re-establishing it. 389 00:44:00,690 --> 00:44:06,020 And I just think that's such an exciting and right thing to be doing. 390 00:44:06,020 --> 00:44:12,710 Fantastic. Just looking at the time, I wonder, Andrew is now a good time to start taking some other questions. 391 00:44:12,710 --> 00:44:19,400 Yes, you've had lots of questions. Oh dear. Some of them you've already answered. 392 00:44:19,400 --> 00:44:23,990 I just can't see you. I don't think we're going to get to the wall, right? 393 00:44:23,990 --> 00:44:27,320 But I'm going to pick out a few representative ones. 394 00:44:27,320 --> 00:44:34,130 And if we can start with one that's coming from when Elizabeth comes, she's saying, I'm wondering in what ways. 395 00:44:34,130 --> 00:44:43,550 But these rather contemplative Book of Weeks reminds me of a mediaeval book about what is the process contemplative? 396 00:44:43,550 --> 00:44:48,800 I would say yes. I mean, they the processes, the ideas are repetitive. 397 00:44:48,800 --> 00:44:56,780 They're slow. But but I'm not using those terms in a derogatory way at all, I think. 398 00:44:56,780 --> 00:45:04,070 These come through my textiles training, I think if you're going to work and constructed textiles, 399 00:45:04,070 --> 00:45:10,870 you're going to have appreciation of repetitive processes. Otherwise, you wouldn't choose it as a medium. 400 00:45:10,870 --> 00:45:20,010 And yes, there's something. I mean, artists talk about the state of flow that you get into when you're working, when you're making. 401 00:45:20,010 --> 00:45:26,540 And that's definitely there's something really lovely about being immersed in in processes. 402 00:45:26,540 --> 00:45:33,470 I mean, of course, you have to get to a stage of learning to manage any particular material before you, 403 00:45:33,470 --> 00:45:41,540 which is really can be really frustrating and certainly doesn't feel contemplative or meditative or anything like that. 404 00:45:41,540 --> 00:45:47,840 But once you've got a confidence on a scale with with any particular process or material, then yes, definitely. 405 00:45:47,840 --> 00:45:58,550 There's something really. Yeah, something restorative may be immersive, rewarding in that. 406 00:45:58,550 --> 00:46:05,300 And again, as I've probably already said that, that that engagement with material, I'm you're, 407 00:46:05,300 --> 00:46:10,340 you know, I'm very aware of the touch, the feel of the material that I'm working with. 408 00:46:10,340 --> 00:46:19,100 And you're constantly kind of, you know, if I'm making if I'm braiding dandelions and I'm I'm constantly aware of those nuances of, 409 00:46:19,100 --> 00:46:24,500 you know, the thickness, the way that the materials drying and whether it's, you know, still flexible enough. 410 00:46:24,500 --> 00:46:26,820 There's all of this kind of detail going on. 411 00:46:26,820 --> 00:46:36,920 So yes, it's repetitive and and but but it's there's a kind of there's a there's a richness to that experience with, 412 00:46:36,920 --> 00:46:43,550 you know, noticing all of those times that I really relish, I suppose. 413 00:46:43,550 --> 00:46:52,760 Thank you. And just to follow up with we've got lots of questions, very particular questions about technique and some of which has come in from, 414 00:46:52,760 --> 00:46:59,420 you know, planchette asking What is your technique when stitching on natural materials? 415 00:46:59,420 --> 00:47:04,910 Do you plan to design the whole first? Yes. 416 00:47:04,910 --> 00:47:12,470 Well, yeah, it depends. So it depends on the material. I mean, as I said before, I depend. 417 00:47:12,470 --> 00:47:17,960 I'm cautious using the word design because yes, I do plan what I'm going to do. 418 00:47:17,960 --> 00:47:20,810 But but there's a lot that I don't want as well. 419 00:47:20,810 --> 00:47:30,260 So whereas a lot of artists might be working towards a design, I don't feel that that's actually what I'm doing a lot of the time. 420 00:47:30,260 --> 00:47:35,010 So with something like working with leaves, then you know, I'm stitching as I'm going. 421 00:47:35,010 --> 00:47:40,070 I'm often kind of joining edges or I'm following a line or, you know, there's there's something, 422 00:47:40,070 --> 00:47:47,690 there's a kind of rhythm there that that gives me something a rule to follow something like, so I'm wearing. 423 00:47:47,690 --> 00:47:54,950 You won't be able to say it, but I'm wearing a limpet limpet that's been stitched into and woven into, 424 00:47:54,950 --> 00:47:59,330 and I have to because I have to use a drill for that. 425 00:47:59,330 --> 00:48:07,490 Then, of course, I have to kind of plan that I have to, you know, there's a technique that I found it may not be the right the best way, 426 00:48:07,490 --> 00:48:13,700 but it works for me of drilling the holes that I then need to be able to stitch into it and and so on. 427 00:48:13,700 --> 00:48:21,290 So. So yeah, there's a kind of there is there is some planning and depending on the material, some materials. 428 00:48:21,290 --> 00:48:28,110 Yes, I would make calls first and others are made as part of that process and yet depends. 429 00:48:28,110 --> 00:48:34,300 Thank you. And just to say that. I'm going to ask the next question, but then repeat it before. 430 00:48:34,300 --> 00:48:46,400 OK, you don't mean to. So this is coming from Pope Willow in letting time keep Latin poetry, weaving and textile metaphor for the one person. 431 00:48:46,400 --> 00:48:52,610 Could you say more about your thoughts on the relationship between books and text? 432 00:48:52,610 --> 00:48:56,420 OK. Do you want to repeat, not make a repeat, I can remember it, 433 00:48:56,420 --> 00:49:07,040 so I'm being asked about making the link between text and textiles, and it's, you know, that's a link that's been made hugely. 434 00:49:07,040 --> 00:49:11,300 And I mean, of course, the word textile, text and textile. 435 00:49:11,300 --> 00:49:19,250 You know, there's a link between the words, the names and and often we have we talk about threads running through stories and all sorts of things. 436 00:49:19,250 --> 00:49:25,130 There are so many links with a text and writing and textiles. 437 00:49:25,130 --> 00:49:34,970 So I mean. I mean, it's not necessarily something that I'm particularly conscious of or kind of using in my work, 438 00:49:34,970 --> 00:49:39,350 but I think I think if you work in textiles and particularly weave, 439 00:49:39,350 --> 00:49:47,330 I mean that because because we've is because I have done quite a lot of weaving and and a lot of the work that I do incorporates cooperates with, 440 00:49:47,330 --> 00:49:49,190 but in a very simple form. 441 00:49:49,190 --> 00:49:56,960 You know, it's just it's plain weave and there's nothing I'm not weaving designs, I'm just weaving to construct a surface, essentially. 442 00:49:56,960 --> 00:50:03,290 And really, that I think is where the the biggest analogy lies, really. 443 00:50:03,290 --> 00:50:07,640 I'm not sure if I can say any more than that, really. But but yeah, I mean, it's it's a link. 444 00:50:07,640 --> 00:50:13,620 It's it's a well known link. Yeah. And to follow up on that. 445 00:50:13,620 --> 00:50:21,590 OK, well, where this is all coming from, it's a lovely question. Your exploration of natural materials is captivating. 446 00:50:21,590 --> 00:50:27,030 How has your background in physical geography informs your practise as a Texan? 447 00:50:27,030 --> 00:50:35,490 OK, so I'm being asked how my background in geography affects my practise. 448 00:50:35,490 --> 00:50:39,450 So I did a geography degree, physical geography degree, first time round, 449 00:50:39,450 --> 00:50:44,940 and then I worked in nature conservation for a few years before retraining in textiles. 450 00:50:44,940 --> 00:50:51,810 And I definitely feel that that that environmental training and but also just kind of passion. 451 00:50:51,810 --> 00:50:54,750 I mean, it's something I grew up with being passionate about, 452 00:50:54,750 --> 00:51:00,810 about the natural world and that but that understanding of landscape and landscape processes 453 00:51:00,810 --> 00:51:05,130 and how the landscape changes and how material has moved around in the landscape. 454 00:51:05,130 --> 00:51:10,620 All of that stuff, I feel, really underpins the way that I work now. 455 00:51:10,620 --> 00:51:15,150 I mean, there's that kind of, I suppose there's that sort of mix of science and art, 456 00:51:15,150 --> 00:51:21,030 and sometimes it's hard to say where the where one stops and the next again is because I mean, 457 00:51:21,030 --> 00:51:26,670 I do I do often kind of analyse things in quite a scientific way. 458 00:51:26,670 --> 00:51:34,680 In some ways, I quite like kind of cataloguing things and kind of identifying things I love. 459 00:51:34,680 --> 00:51:43,530 I love an identification book, you know, to be able to kind of list the things that that are there. 460 00:51:43,530 --> 00:51:48,690 So, so yeah, it definitely it definitely underpins the way that I work. 461 00:51:48,690 --> 00:51:58,660 But I think particularly just in that kind of passion for working in a with a with a smaller footprint as possible. 462 00:51:58,660 --> 00:52:04,460 And I mean, I have this sort of slight flashback to when I was still working in nature conservation 463 00:52:04,460 --> 00:52:11,500 and I was surveying for water bottles up on the Yorkshire Moors somewhere and and I 464 00:52:11,500 --> 00:52:18,220 can remember a particular occasion getting really distracted by how beautiful the mosses 465 00:52:18,220 --> 00:52:24,730 were and kind of wanting to stop and and photograph or even draw those and think, 466 00:52:24,730 --> 00:52:30,780 you know, I must just keep looking for the water, all the trains. 467 00:52:30,780 --> 00:52:35,110 And but I suppose it's just that those those different things have always been there for me, 468 00:52:35,110 --> 00:52:43,330 and I've always enjoyed the artistic side of engaging with the natural world, but also enjoy the scientific kind of understanding of it as well. 469 00:52:43,330 --> 00:52:48,050 And they just go hand in hand, really. Thank you. 470 00:52:48,050 --> 00:52:53,090 I think we have time for one more one more question. Thank you. 471 00:52:53,090 --> 00:53:00,070 And this is a question that's coming as a person who is curious about the possibilities of materials. 472 00:53:00,070 --> 00:53:06,850 This is great question. How did you condense the many options or ideas you focus? 473 00:53:06,850 --> 00:53:16,790 Oh, okay. Yeah, this is a good one. I'm being asked with all the possibilities of materials how I can condense that into a focussed project. 474 00:53:16,790 --> 00:53:26,690 And and in a way, this is something I grapple with all the time. You know, we're constantly surrounded by ideas and and interests, and things are not. 475 00:53:26,690 --> 00:53:33,410 I mean, I don't know whether non artists experience that kind of excitement about the world. 476 00:53:33,410 --> 00:53:42,920 But but I'm sure that a lot of artists do that that, you know, you could constantly being drawn by drawn down different avenues. 477 00:53:42,920 --> 00:53:47,830 And sometimes you have to just put the blinkers on and just think, No, I can't. 478 00:53:47,830 --> 00:53:52,310 I can't think about that because I've got to focus on this. 479 00:53:52,310 --> 00:53:59,210 I mean, I think I think certainly with the they are using the allotment as a focus has really helped to exactly that. 480 00:53:59,210 --> 00:54:08,780 Give me a focus because it's it's limited. They it's limited me to this little piece of land and it's it's limited me to what's there. 481 00:54:08,780 --> 00:54:16,940 And of course, there are always other possibilities I could be exploring. But but by actually remembering, yes, I've got this little boundary here. 482 00:54:16,940 --> 00:54:25,790 And and that's quite a useful thing. I think it's it's always useful and this is something that I often talk to students about in workshops. 483 00:54:25,790 --> 00:54:31,400 Give yourself a little set of rules, because otherwise, how do you ever kind of figure out where you what you're going to do? 484 00:54:31,400 --> 00:54:36,500 The possibilities are endless, you know, the embarrassment of riches, of ideas and possibilities. 485 00:54:36,500 --> 00:54:44,180 And I think also this is the case with materials people get. I think particularly textiles, people get really distracted by all the latest, 486 00:54:44,180 --> 00:54:53,420 the latest kind of new fangled fabric or whatever and and then never actually really explore something in depth. 487 00:54:53,420 --> 00:55:01,760 So, so certainly for me, the allotment has provided that and is, you know, very much an ongoing and hopefully long term focus. 488 00:55:01,760 --> 00:55:07,190 And yes, I can step outside of that when I choose to to work in slightly different ways. 489 00:55:07,190 --> 00:55:12,320 But but it but it always comes back to that and I can kind of use that. 490 00:55:12,320 --> 00:55:20,570 So, yeah, I think definitely thinkers when they're when they needed a useful, amazing thank you. 491 00:55:20,570 --> 00:55:27,320 And I guess just to finish off class one quick last question, just about so is kind of what are you working on at the moment? 492 00:55:27,320 --> 00:55:33,470 Is the dandelion kind of core? Is that where your kind of your focus is at the moment? 493 00:55:33,470 --> 00:55:39,830 Yeah, dandelions. And then a mind reader, I quite I'm kind of immersed in. 494 00:55:39,830 --> 00:55:45,560 I mean, I've actually had hardly any studio time over the last few months because I've been so busy teaching all 495 00:55:45,560 --> 00:55:52,250 the things that were cancelled during COVID have been kind of shoehorned into really the last few months. 496 00:55:52,250 --> 00:56:02,570 So I hardly had any studio time. But just this week I got back to the dandelions and I've got all of this year's crop sitting 497 00:56:02,570 --> 00:56:10,310 scattered around my daughter's bedroom in various states of as of yet waiting to be worked with. 498 00:56:10,310 --> 00:56:17,720 And so for me, winter is a time for making because the summer is often, you know, apart from the teaching and so on. 499 00:56:17,720 --> 00:56:24,770 It's a busy time for gathering and different. I mean, we haven't really touched on that kind of cycle of the seasons, but that's really key. 500 00:56:24,770 --> 00:56:32,000 So there are periods of of obviously nurturing things and gathering things, drying them and then storing them. 501 00:56:32,000 --> 00:56:37,310 And then when Theresa is a good time to be in the studio and making and I've got 502 00:56:37,310 --> 00:56:43,100 various exhibitions early next year that I'm now making madly making things feel. 503 00:56:43,100 --> 00:56:48,500 So, yeah, dandelions are where I'm going to base the next few weeks. 504 00:56:48,500 --> 00:56:53,210 Well, thank you so much. I think that's a lovely point to finish on. 505 00:56:53,210 --> 00:56:59,300 Thank you so much to Andrew and to all of you all for joining us today and my special thank you to Alice 506 00:56:59,300 --> 00:57:05,480 for joining us here at the body and for coming down to Oxford and for bringing your amazing objects. 507 00:57:05,480 --> 00:57:10,910 It's been an absolute treat to see them in real life and to share them with you all. 508 00:57:10,910 --> 00:57:18,350 I hope you've enjoyed this as much as we have and yes, that this is being recorded, so you'll be able to catch up again if you want. 509 00:57:18,350 --> 00:57:26,870 And next talk in this series will be in January after the festive break, so hopefully some of you'll be able to join us then. 510 00:57:26,870 --> 00:57:39,646 But for now, thank you so much and have a lovely evening.