I got the chance to do a couple of Summer School Courses at City Lit this summer. A Master Class with Nora Fok and another one with Tanvi Kant. It's always good to have some extra making time to learn further techniques, experiment with new materials and see how other artists work. Another big plus is meeting and working alongside students at city Lit. I met some great folk on the courses this summer.
Below are some examples of samples I made on the Nora Fok Masterclass. Working with nylon monofilament (aka fishing line). The most interesting part of this course for me was hearing Nora talk about her own work and the stories that influenced her pieces. Many were personal anecdotes of the small things in life(often humorous),that not everyone would notice...quiet observations that translated into big theatrical works.
Dying the nylon with chemical dyes was the perhaps the most exciting bit of the course for me. As I am a bit obsessed with "colour" and have hand dyed my own yarns for many pieces of work...to see how "instant" the dying process was for nylon was surprising. It has totally different properties to textile yarn...this was both disconcerting and liberating. I won't be switching to nylon in my own work any time soon, but am sure a few things from the experience will filter into my experiments!
I also enjoyed seeing the work that Nora had produced with 3D printing and how she was still able to use her low tech processes as a route to get to high tec designs.
