Reflections, Beading, Zoe Paul, Caroline Broadhead and Bruce Munro

March 06, 2021

Reflections, Beading, Zoe Paul, Caroline Broadhead and Bruce Munro

Reflections and Artists Research around Beaded Works.

January was a difficult month. Christmas was not what had been promised. My son was not going to be back at school. New protocols and payment plans by the NHS encouraged unsafe practice. And we lost a beautiful school friend. I don't often get overwhelmed, but I can safely say I did. I find peace in making and I knew it would important to work on something quietly whilst finding my feet again. These beaded works provided me with a few evening hours to myself to consider memories and work through my personal grief.

Referencing text talk of 1998-2004. You had limited credit/free daily texts and limited characters per message so it was important to get your point across or fit as much in as you could by removing vowels, spaces and creating shortened phrases and emoticons.

We would write who we 'loved' or <3d in the peeled back cardboard layer corners of our school ring binders.

Why am I using beading?

What do they mean to me?

Use of table linens etc and link to the domestic space?

What do the motifs mean?

More about doodling?

'Doodling is not just a way to “think differently;” it’s a way to “feel differently,” too. From emerging studies we are learning that art expression may actually help individuals reconnect thinking and feeling, thus bridging explicit (narrative) and implicit (sensory) memory. The wonderful thing about doodling is that it is a whole brain activity—spontaneous, at times unconscious, self-soothing, satisfying, exploratory, memory-enhancing, and mindful. In essence, doodling (and drawing and painting and making things in general) can be a self-regulating experience as well as a pleasurable road map of thoughts and ideas. That is what those of us in the business of encouraging people to self-express with pen and paper, pre-doodle revolution, have known for a long, long time.'

https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog/arts-and-health/201401/doodling-your-way-more-mindful-life

Beading - memory of beads on shoelaces and the beaded belt gifted by my Auntie as a teenager. My Auntie passed away when I was 19 and this was my first real experience of grief. Beads worn as almost a chest plate or a type of armour, as an easy way to express yourself as a teenager.

Making a verbal diary/thought notes during the making

Making gives me the headspace and quiet moments to visit memories and reflect.

Plan to create an immersive space, which also isolates the viewer. This isolation can be negative, creating a sense of being overwhelmed and separated, or can be a private and personal space. This would be a choice/unconscious decision by the viewer.

Domestic space, school space. Interactions within spaces.

Doodles drawing/Free writing/story writing as escape, trance-like state, subconscious/unconscious, removes the ego and narrative from an experience? Typing up writing to formalise memories.

Doodling as a shared activity, shared experience - could potentially present a wall/paper/cloth/loose papers for viewers to doodle on. These motifs were a shared doodle between school friends, each would add a little more. In sparkling gel pen or biro.

Moving forwards; thinking more about an installation and creation of a space. Direct inspiration from Zoe Paul's ceramic beads, could make little ceramic stars and hearts etc typical of the beads we would apply to clothing. (and is now a returning fashion trend)

Beaded curtains were extremely popular in 2002ish, as seen in Elle Decoration from the time. I have been researching how I could DIY a beaded curtain including cut up CDs, which looks a little too DIY but could be nice with a light installation a la Bruce Munro. I could try this idea with a swirl motif on a straight curtain to get an idea how it would work.