Awardee: Nottene

Primary Artistic Medium: Visual Arts, 2 Dimensional

Idea

We want to bring pattern to public spaces! In our studio practice we hand screen print wallpaper that incorporates narrative imagery to make personal space at home interactive and rich with stories. One of our primary interests is in home and community and we believe textiles & decorative objects are an important tool for communicating how we as a society believe things should be organized and celebrated. In our research of historical wallpapers we have found it to be an important carrier of the thoughts of the time. Before new media, wallpaper was often used to venerate and communicate social mores: craft movements, haloed historical scenes, and technological developments (through things like fluorescent colors) have all been promoted through their representation in contemporary wallpaper (and of course other decorative objects too). Through this proposal we hope to bring the work of wallpaper and pattern out into the community to further enrich and enliven the experience of citizens and visitors by the telling stories from the community in pattern. We think using wallpaper as a tool to communicate should not be lost.

Our proposal is to collect imagery, objects, words, and pictures from a community, neighborhood or group; combine them in to a pattern; and place it in a public space. We find that collecting images into a group on the wall, allows viewers to connect to the everyday things around them in new ways, and as humans we naturally make these connections and develop relationships with images which become stories. Looking at images and patterns regularly, as one does walking on streets or passing through rooms, connects us as a community, the same way that a shared memory of a childhood room or home connects a family together. Our proposal concept is to find a community space to pattern with local objects, symbols and motifs to create a pattern that helps share the story of a place.

Lastly, in practical terms, we usually work by drawing or painting objects in all kinds of media like ink, colored pencil, or gouache paint, and then the drawings are translated to silk screen or wood block and printed for reproduction. For a public space project we are open to other kinds of digital media for reproduction as well as painting directly. We are also very much interested in the community collaboration aspect of this project, since the motifs would come directly from them. We could hold a social media call to get input, work with local groups, or collect info in a more direct manner if possible.

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