Make Sense
Kentish Town Health Centre
With funding from Camden Giving, our workshops at the Kentish Town Health Centre have now been running for a year. This consistent schedule has provided a vital space for older attendees to express themselves individually and, more recently, has fostered a sense of collaborative confidence within the group.
This series of workshops welcomed Lottie as an assistant, whose has enabled participants to receive more one-on-one attention while also allowing for greater complexity in the artistic processes. For example, while we have used paper marbling with previous groups, this series allowed us to explore it over multiple sessions, culminating in an evolving sculpture that participants assemble and disassemble each week.
Over ten sessions, we explored new processes such as painting with blackberries, paper tearing, clay impressions inspired by hieroglyphics, collaging with leaves from the health centre’s garden, paper marbling, monoprinting with self-made rollers, drawing to prompts, and making dumplings from clay. We even visited an exhibition at the Hayward Gallery. We also enjoyed an element of co-facilitation, with participants who progressed quickly through the activities suggesting new ways of exploring the processes. A good example was during the paper tearing workshop, where Richard captivated the group by using his paper three-dimensionally to create shadows. This unplanned addition brought a shared element of excitement.
With recent attendance reaching 14 participants, we hope to increase the frequency of the workshops from fortnightly to weekly. This would provide greater consistency for those who wish to attend more regularly. For those who prefer a fortnightly schedule, it will allow us to engage with new participants dropping in via the James Wigg Practice.
“
Melissa’s sessions are wonderfully adventurous, with her pleasant personality, she is fully equipped with unusual materials that open up creative pathways, in an accessible way for the participants” Karen
Carer of Anya
We are also pleased to announce that from the 18th to the 24th of March, work from these workshops will be exhibited at All is Joy on Dean Street in Soho. We will present the work as a group, showcasing a selection of the processes we have explored. It will be displayed alongside other artwork created within Kentish Town Health Centre.
This project has been made possible by Camden Giving.
