Study event review – Oxford

Some months ago OCA Student Karen Woodfield approached me, to lead a study visit in Oxford. The Oxford area is currently lacking an OCA group and it is hoped that one may develop from this.

It was a real honour to lead this study visit in Oxford. As a previous student I know how invaluable these events can be, for developing practice, as a chance to learn something new and meet other fellow OCA students. The attendance was great with 13 students signed up and all from a variety of disciplines including textiles, photography, painting and drawing.

We were kindly hosted by OVADA (Oxford Visual Arts Development Agency) https://www.ovada.org.uk/, an artist led space in central Oxford who develop learning opportunities as well as exhibitions.

We started the day with an artist’s talk from myself about my experience of studying with OCA as a textile student through to my current work. I brought along some examples of work as well to give context to the talk as well as to allow students the opportunity to explore more than just images.

You can view the artists talk presentation here: https://www.slideshare.net/secret/3DXTZZ1zKdeimz

The day continued with a discussion about interdisciplinary practice and the possibility of collaboration within other disciplines. We looked at a selection of artists who have worked within science research and we discussed the potential benefits of this kind of work.

The artists we looked at were:

• Suzanne Lee – https://youtu.be/u9u_m_QzXSI
• Donald Weber – http://donaldweber.com/war-sand/
• Šejla Kamerić – https://youtu.be/cSkE_KbbZt8
• Rebecca Harris – https://youtu.be/6i54njFhshs
• Luke Jerram – https://www.lukejerram.com/glass/
• Foresenic Architecture – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-yQ__UKsAQ&feature=youtu.be
• Elpida Hadzi-Vasileva – https://youtu.be/XbT0NejjYIo

Afternoon workshop

During the afternoon we explored a mark making technique that uses water sprayed onto paper through lace, with ink then dropped into the pools of water. This technique creates random marks in a really satisfying way and could be adapted in many ways.

I really enjoyed supporting discussion and interaction throughout the day as well as meeting current students. I hope everyone found it useful.