ARTIST in SCHOOLS RESIDENCY
CRAFT-ED Programme, DCCoI, 2014
School: Gaelscoil Waterford, 4th/5th class
Artist: Tunde Toth
Time scale: 10 contact hours + extended by 6 project hours and preparation time to complete collaborative, larger scale artworks, including varnishing with wax and mounting pieces on stretched canvases.
Project: This was a process-led visual art and craft project focussing on space and place in connection with a new school building the school community was to move into within a year.
The class was divided for six groups and the children worked on their chosen theme collaboratively within their group.
Processes: drawings, sketches (art project diaries were used), discussions/planning, oil pastel drawings, silk fibre paper making, stitching/sewing.
Permanent artwork – outcome: The permanent pieces are larger silk fibre paper works, created by each group, mounted on stretched canvases. Embedded in the silk paper are many details, images, visual fragments built from threads, paper, wool and textile material, visible on close inspection. These details are like hidden drawings, preserved between layers of fibre and thread. They reference themes of a new environment, elements of the new school building and related everyday activities (library/reading/books and pages; garden/outdoor spaces etc.).
The finished silk paper works are treated/varnished with wax, resulting in finishes that resemble ancient papers or archaeological findings, offering a reflection on old and new, imagination, expectation and sense of place.
ARTIST in SCHOOLS RESIDENCY – Gaelscoil Waterford, DCCoI CraftEd 2014
Tunde Toth 