Ocular Odyssey
Manchester Deaf Centre & Salford Makers / Push Festival 2020
Over the duration of a 10 week period, young creatives from Manchester Deaf Centre worked with Salford Makers artists Sally Gilford and Natalie Linney to introduce a variety of artistic practices with the aim of co-creating a range of print designs including a bespoke fashion collection.
For the initial phase the group worked with Natalie, manipulating fibres in woven structures, they created textured wall hangings inspired by the natural and urban landscape. Botanical printing techniques, incorporating leaves and flowers that were used used to create ethereal surface designs. Expressive mark making and collage were combined to create stand alone textured samples. Garment and silhouette design were introduced and the decision making process on how the final collection would look started here, including colour palette selection.
For the next phase of the project, the group worked with Sally on a range of screen printed fabrics, the designs of which were influenced by the outcomes of the initial phase of the work. Using a combination of photo and stencil screen printing, a range of sample surface designs were created and re-interpreted onto a range of digitally printed and hand printed fabrics.
The workshops that underpinned this project were fast paced and high energy- often working in large groups, the artists encouraged collaborative working, dynamic thinking and independent decision making.
Working in consultation with garment designer specialist, Jessie Fewtrill, a collection consisting of over forty items were handmade and shot on location at HOME by photographer Joe Smith.
