My Egg. Do not Sit

My Egg. Do not Sit. 

A sculpture in International Exhibition

My Egg. Held by a Male.
Photo: Ivaylo Petrov

One of my sculptures: My Egg. Do not Sit! is going to an international exhibition in Finland.

The work is a textile sculpture of a human egg in the process of fertilisation. It contributes to the debate about ownership, choice and human rights. Who owns a woman’s egg? The complex multi-layered textile sculpture is informed by a microscopic photo of a human egg. It is built through both solid and hollow shapes that are intertwined together. The sculpture uses warm colours associated with beginnings and round shapes both as negative and positive spaces and shapes in various textile making methods: shibori, lace, nunofelt and solid felt. Colour, shape and method unite to further emphasise the depth and complexity of the arguments the piece embodies. The artist’s stance is expressed in the mount. It looks like a vessel, in this case- a chair, but the artist’s instructions are clear. It is mine and I do not give you my consent to use it in this way. It is Not Your Vessel. The owner has expressed their desire. It is also made delicately so that you cannot actually sit on it. You will break it if you do.

Still, the choice stays with you.

The choice of materials in developing the piece was also reflective of the complex history that women have with reproduction and birth. It is a considered selection of merino wool, silk fibres, the staple of any felting texture. Then in the nuno felt I have embodied knit mohair from a friend that knits many wraps for new mums. and vintage silk from my grandmother as well as Russian silk from mum who had experience a really scary childbirth with me. There is Blueface Leicester fibres as they are the foundation and ever lasting presence in all my core work. And a bit of a raw and hairy fibre from a the dog of a friend. She shared with me a story of her miscarriage and I asked her if it would be ok to use the fibre from her best friend , her dog.  And as it is always in this situations I have used a handful of fibres that are from a sheep whose name I know and whose owner is a friend of mine.

The piece looked impossible to make as with its complex structure took a while to digest from the microscopic photos I have seen to the 3d object I have developed. I have tried it in several sizes and also experimented with various ways to incorporate the complex shapes and textures. It took half an year to develop the prototype. And I have discussed it with several mentors.

Please note that in the next photo I am wearing the One Hat. The one hat always come out when we are at a cross roads and need to make a hard choice. A choice that might make us grow out of our comfort zone or our understanding of what is right to us, might not be right to others.

Pulling Fibres
Photo: Simon O'Pappon

The most insightful conversation was with Marjolein Dallinga who gave me a generous insight into the connection between fibre authenticity and structure.

I have also discussed it with Brigitta Varadi at its early development as I needed insight of developing a mounting that would reflect the message consistently.

The positive and insightful feedback that I have received from my mentors enabled me to work further in the direction of creating the work.

The exhibition is a collaboration between Feltmakers Ireland and Finnish Feltmakers Association.

The call out was for ‘A touch of Red’ pieces that interpret the colour or the concept in the pieces developed for consideration of the judging panel.

The exhibition runs from 1st July to 4th in Jämsä, Finland

The gallery is an old bank building overt two floors in the town centre.

Feltmakers Ireland is the national organization with members throughout Ireland. It supports work in felt to both amateur and professional crafts people.

My Egg. Held by me
Photographer: Beta Bagjgart

I was so glad that my work was selected for this exhibition- it is such a core story in my practice.

New Year Resolutions - A cautious plan for learning

A dream is not a plan, but every plan starts with a dream.

My New Year starts with a resolution.

I am going out of my comfort zone.

First step— making this a regular blog.

It is a look into what I do and how I do it. And just like that I talk about my dreams. 

My dream -(plan) to share my studio experience so I get to show you the wonderful people I meet and the ins and outs of my studio life. I am a bit apprehensive - too many too often turn blogging into unexamined reality where crazy meets stupid. So my every sentence would be attempt to stay away from alternative facts, examine my opinions and share success and failure with gumption and honest account of my shortcomings. 

This is a place to grow.

And I honestly believe that growth is possible only when we are honest.

This month is a good one for that- with Showcase looming in the third week of January it is always a scary way to open up my year. Showcase is an annual event at the RDS Dublin where creative industries showcase new and successful creations to community that supports and develops our practices – buyers, media and press, influencers, creative communities. It is also a great way to meet your mentors, folks that you love and a place to examine whether what you do is still relevant and meaningful. Because there are always a few new kids on the block.

Showcase, if you do it as you should, needs to come from a place of meticulous planning and coaxing of folk and institutions as far as an year in advance. So once you are there your success comes as a surprise to others but as a total relief to you. Full disclosure, I do not have the best habits for Showcase set up - I let my creativity take the better of me.  I fire a few invites the week before, print complex brochures the day on the show and build complicated set ups which leaves myself and my husband on none speaking terms with at least one of us is bleeding from clumsy DIY endeavors. To top all this my special needs girl is usually either in A&E or in hospital at the time. 

My best Showcase to date was the one I did not do it. I did not book a stand, I did not print new brochures, I did not create complex packaging solutions or displays. I just fired up an e-mail to my most precious buyers: '' could I meet them somewhere if they are coming''. Thankfully, they said yes. So the year I did not do it I met my buyers in the buyers lounge, had free coffee, courtesy of the unaware organisers and made twice the amount you pay to participate. 

And yet. I am there every year bar one. I won't lie to you- it is the event that scares me most. One year I thought I would not be able to pick myself up from the bottom of the stairs where I end up the day after it finishes. But I go with various success I overcome my fear of failure and go. The strength to do it comes from my hope that people would see my work for what it is- honest, uncompromising and always developing.  So I go and do it.  And the event that has given me most. I met British Museum at it. I met my best international buyer at it. I have made some of the most meaningful friendships at it. 

This year I am doing it. I am going for a minimalist display and bringing just four collections- two of the evergreen classics and my personal best achievement- the first Irish felt. Made from the fibres that create Irish tweed and inspired by Irish landscape this collection is personal to me. So with great fear and huge plans to change my practice I am getting ready for it. Keeping fingers crossed while I put finishing touches onto product and press pieces. I would put focus on spring cleaning my website as it needs to communicate my passion and effort in a more inviting manner. So check it out at

www.nikicollier.com

Hope it is a good show- I have invested so much in my creative work - I hope that people see that what I lack in planning I make up in hard work and imagination.

Here is to hope. And as we say: ''May we have a great show!''

Teaching and Other Remedies

Introduction

The week after Easter seems to be a good week to do something different. With children holidays and generally more free time to us we look for things that we do when we have the indulgence of time to ourselves.  So it is a really busy time for me as other people's time usually translates into bookings for teaching textile making.

I thought three very different classes and took my girl to learn a new skill herself.

The Fibre Club- Teaching Craft as a Group Development Excersise

I did my usual Tuesday Felting class with starts around 19 and finishes between 21 and 22.30 depending on the project and time we need to catch up with each other. It is a small class of 2-4 people and I love teaching it because for me it is great way to share skills in a long stretch of time. I have found that talent and ambition are just one of the ingredients in our practices.  Perseverance, is just as important. Seeing a student of mine coming to my classes with many ideas, but not great passion to develop skills and seeing the progress in the last three years from holey shapes of uncertain bird nests to imaginative hats which consist of strong designs and balanced use of colours and fibres is a thrill. Look for yourselves:

Niki Collier Workshops

It is a different dynamic when the size or the complexity of the project is not an issue. It allows for quality and expression that gives great results. It also allows to achieve results much closer to your vision as the level of trust on both sides allows for a jumping start.

The Fun Activity -Doing Craft as a Team Experience

The thrill of teaching people that have never seen or done what you are showing them is different. It allows you to revisit everything that you have felt at the beginning when you started discovering the medium- wonder, possibilities inspiration and loads of fun. Loads of fun!

So it was great to get a 'thank you' letter from my team building group that I taught in The Constant Knitter. I love showing beginners how to cover bad stuff with handmade wool. 

So my favourite class to teach for beginners is a solid felted ball. 

1. You just take an orphan sock, scarps of yarn and remnants of fibre. 

2. Put the scaps in the centre, colver them with laid wool fibres

3. Dunk them in soapy water.

4. Now start felting them. Just massage the wet tangle in your hands till t transforms from hairy wet mess to smooth felted ball. Sometimes you need to add more fibres at the end stage if you do not want your ball to have a face on it, but sometimes it turns out perfectly smooth from the start. 

5. The great thing about this project is that you could embellish it at any stage, by adding beading, embroidery or taking away some of the fibres.

Showing it to people always feel more offering a therapeutic strategy rather than teaching craft....

The Master Class- Training Advanced Craft Lovers

This the one that comes great rewards. It aslo comes with great challenges as a teacher. There is a lot of problem solving and often significant amount of soul searching before and sometimes after the event- would I mange to achieve the vision of the person, would I be able to maintain the level of quality that we are all aiming at in a new project that would offer me unexpected challenges? 

I have to admit that some projects end up further south than is healthy for relentless optimism.. I am currently on sample 5th of the Shouting and Shaking scarf that I described in the previous blog.  And although being through this process more than once I know some tricks- 1)I have asked for help from experienced maker, 2)I have got some learning sources to find out more about the technique I am still not sure how it is going to go...

But when you are teaching others you need to be able for all these pitfalls. Learning through others mistakes is dangerous game.

So I am delighted that Ruth, who came to make a top with me ended up with a great top. She was not mad about the project that I had in mind (oops!) so she suggested a tunic which we designed on the spot, then using a pattern that she had I devised a felting pattern- most areas increased by 30% apart from neck- no increase and sleeves just 15% increase. It was very exciting that Ruth loved the Blue Faced Leicester and mixed it with superfine Merino.  Believe me I know how nerdy this sounds, but cannot help it- Blue Faced Leicester is not celebrated as much as it deserves. I was really interested to see also her account on the experience in a wet felting group. It is interesting to see the day through her eyes.

This week my daughter had her first lesson in knitting and it was very emotional experience for me. I hope she gets to love making things just like me. It is a great way of discovering.