EXHIBITION OF THE PUPILS WORK

WEEK 7 : VISIT TO NTU & SCREEN PRINTING WORKSHOP

WORKSHOP 6 -  Screen Printing

This was the week we had planned for the girls to visit the university. This would be the only time the workshops hadn’t taken place under a school environment, and would give them an insight to what studying at degree level can be like as well as the chance to use the type of facilities they wouldn’t normally have access to.

They were fascinated by the work produced in the studios, as well as excited for the textiles and fashion department, showing them that there are ways into that line of subject area within Nottingham already.

Using the drawings & the mono-prints from the first two workshops, we prepared 8 different screens in order to do a screen printing workshop. By using the previous work, we wanted to show them the ability to recycle work they’ve already made, instead of feeling like they have to create something completely new. They also began to abstract the prints they made, seeing shapes which may not have originally been connected to other types of natural forms, such as birds and mountains.

The focus of the workshop was similar to that of the printing one, in that there was an incredible velocity of work produced. We placed emphasis on the ability to create 3-5 prints in order to make a successful one and still retain the others as preliminary experiments. Because the process was such a simple procedure, the girls were more confident in their decision making when it came to choosing the colours of their prints.

There was ambitious use of colour, line and layering within this workshop. Some tried to replicate a 3-D effect by printing directly over another print, while complimentary and opposite colours were used deliberately.

WEEK 5 : SCULPTURE

This week was the final practical workshop held at the Girls Academy. We introduced the use of found objects to make sculpture and relief pieces. The artists I referenced for this workshop were Peter Callesen, Cornelia Parker and Tim Noble & Sue Webster-Nottingham Trent alumni! Peter Callesen uses only paper to make amazing 2D and 3D works, which I thought was a fantastic way to bridge the collage and sculpture workshops.

We provided a huge range of materials that we bought from Playworks... including large cardboard tubes, thread, cellophane, plenty of patterned fabric swatches... and tights! Rachel suggested they bounced ideas off of a selection of words including prickly, concealed, rigid, and crumpled.

Using some pre-made examples, we suggested using the sections of cardboard as a base for the sculptures, encouraging wrapping, tucking, folding, tying, and layering.

The main focuses of the session were texture and colour - we suggested that the girls juxta-positioned Rachel’s words, such as pairing a shiny fabric with a rough one. They could then try and relate the surfaces to natural forms. An especially interesting part of the workshop was that we didn’t always know the origin of the materials, so there were no constraints when it came to getting ideas flowing.

The girls got started straight away - they were especially animated, as they realised what potential the materials had. The tights proved popular, and the girls made great use of the inside of the tubes, creating concealed details hidden beneath layers of plastic and fabric.

They made excellent use of colour, in particular partnering sky blue leather with red and white striped fabric, and elevating their sculptures using tall tubes and polystyrene balls. There was even a huge cardboard shell and pearl!

  

Miss Bates modelling the sculptures as they become accessories