Free Entry & Drinks / All Welcome
Stanley Picker Gallery is pleased to present All Blocked Up, a display of work in progress by the hayfever-ridden participants of workshops inspired by Orishirishi – the gallery’s current exhibition by textile designer Yemi Awosile.
Featuring: Welmede Collective, The Grange, King Athelstan Primary, Epsom Primary, St Luke’s C of E Primary, Kingston Young Carers’, Worcester Parkers WI, Kingston University BA Dance and special live performance of poetry and prose by Kingston’s Creative Writers.
Appointed Stanley Picker Design Fellow in 2015, Awosile has developed a new body of research that casts a lens on the insatiable desire to maintain a sense of place and ownership over one’s identity through outward public personas. Exhibited within ‘changing rooms’ in the main gallery space, the title of this work is a Nigerian (Yoruba) word taken from Awosile’s family tribe’s vocabulary, loosely meaning ‘an assortment of different things’ and showcases a collection of textiles which classify materials as an arrangement of experiences, alongside multi-media print, t-shirts and acoustic drapes.
Workshop participants explored Orishirishi where they admired the ‘beautiful and tranquil’ installation, debated a question of style informed by cultural histories and friendships, the movement of people and garments across continents, and the universal language of hip hop…and either took numerous ‘selfies’ or attempted to avoid the mirrors entirely! Alongside this, the groups made special guided tours to Kingston University 3D workshops where much of Awosile’s thinking and making took place, and to her onsite studio where they were given special access to the designer’s heat press, dyes, printing blocks and fabrics with the opportunity to experiment with some of the printing techniques used by Awosile and her collaborators.
Outcomes inspired by these experiences include personal and group logos, block print designs, t-shirts, bags, dance and creative writing – which of course will be performed on the night.
The Gallery team have been impressed by imagination and design skills of all, and hope that you will join us in celebrating their achievements.