A project instigated by Cement Fields and led by Esther Collins, part of Raising the Sittingbourne Barn by Kieren Reid – a project investigating community building methods.
I led two workshops with community groups in Sittingbourne to produce panels for a temporary public artwork built by artist and framer Dylan Shipton. I took inspiration from shingles, a recognisable feature on walls and roofs everywhere; a layered structure built using overlapping multiples of one shape cut out of the same material. I used this as a starting point to devise workshops exploring this repetition and uniformity but also elements of subtle variation through textile processes. Participants cut multiples of their chosen shape from a range of scrap fabrics. They then chose one dye bath to colour their fabric pieces, the result being a collection of shapes sharing a similar colour palette but taking on the dye differently depending on their existing colour, texture and material composition. Participants then layered their shapes like soft shingles onto a board. These boards were placed into reclaimed picture frames and used to build a temporary outdoor structure.
Supported by Ideas Test