Making Space

ART COLLABORATION

Changing Hands, 2016, Collaboration with Lucy Poskit, weaving (linen, cotton, hemp/silk, wool, cotton/silk and sari silk, 17″ x 40″) acrylic paint, ink and graphite on wood panel, 40″ x 30″

I have always wanted to collaborate with another artist and so I was excited when weaver Lucy Poskitt agreed to collaborate with me. I was interested in exploring how we could create something that would complement each other’s work. I wanted to have the weaving feel very organic as although it was growing out of the panel.  Building in more negative space, I kept the painting a little simpler using bold shapes and kept a lot of the wood panel unpainted in the background. During this time, Lucy moved to Vancouver Island which meant we communicated our process mostly over email and through photos. We met once and then put the two together the day before the Eastside Culture Crawl.  It was really fun to work with another artist. I enjoyed the energy and the flow of ideas exchanged back and forth. Every individual decision that each of us made affected the following component that the other would contribute.  It constantly kept me thinking about ways to make the final work cohesive overall. I know that it changed how I painted.  I think it was a great exercise to stretch myself and see what I could do with this project.  It’s a very special, one of a kind piece.