Sensorial Ground

This inspiring workshop programme will be a practical-based exercise using clay in an exploration of the subtle senses and awareness in creative practice. Conducted online, the programme will bring together a group to reflect upon experiences and discoveries, sharing the findings made.

*Update: this event is now sold out.

Who?

Priska Falin and Helen Felcey will lead a small group of 16 people, including artists, makers, researchers, professionals and enthusiasts from all fields who would like to engage in the workshop theme, Sensorial Ground.

What is it about?

• Giving time to finding enjoyment in practice
• Bringing focus to our intrinsic qualities and connections to environment and materials (from home to wilderness).
• Staying within the process and explore the experience; there is no aim to express through outcomes.
• Finding greater sense of embodied awareness in practice. 

Where?

This is an online workshop that you can access from where you are – studio, home, workplace etc.

When?

A programme of eight 2 hour workshops held between the 31^st August and 25^th September on Monday mornings and Friday afternoons. Please see specific dates below.

What will we be doing ?

Whilst working from our individual spaces, this will be a collective process of moving through practices and exercises together. Each week we will introduce a theme – tactility, light, sound and dwelling – to be explored during our workshops and independently during the week. Practices and exercises will include, for example, making, video/sound recordings, walking and reflective writing. Each is designed to engage our senses and facilitate an appreciation of our nuanced experiences of day-to-day activities and our surrounding environment. We will introduce a range of supportive research materials and visuals found within art practice, ecology, philosophy and science. In addition to the weekly exercises, short daily practices will be offered to emphasise repetition as a method for staying within a process.

Our twice–weekly workshops will be a place for sharing materials, images and sounds that we gather over time. In our conversations we will work with metaphor, to reflect on experiences and open up our processes for interpretation and understanding.

Participants should expect to be able to give 15 minutes each day to undertake the daily practices and a minimum of 1 hour per week for the  themed exercise of the week.

What will we provide ?

• You will receive a Sensorial Ground ‘starter pack’ in the post prior to the start of the workshop, including small clay samples, ‘tools’ and guidance notes (international participants may be required to pay some additional postages fees).
• Weekly group workshops as detailed below
• A one-to-one session for each participant within the programme. Timings for these will be agreed with Priska, Helen and participants.

What you will need

• To be available for the group workshop sessions at the dates and times listed below.
• A minimum of 1 hour per week for the weekly practice around the theme.
• A short time each day to follow the “daily practices” (15 minutes per day)
• To be able to access group meetings online. (More detail on this in pre-course information).
• To be able to upload files (such as images and videos) to the shared online platform. (Google Drive)
• Access to materials and media. (See below)

Materials

We will encourage you to work with a variety of different media and materials in the workshops including; clay, image, video and sound. It’s not necessary to work with all of these, however we would like everyone to be able to have some clay! We recommend a minimum of one bag 12.5kg of a versatile clay body. We are happy to advise participants and answer any questions on sourcing this and any other media/materials.

Weekly Themes

Week 1: Tactility

Monday 31^st August 9.30am – 11.30am: Introduction talks and Exercises: Embodied Tactility

Friday 4th September: 3.30pm – 5.30pm: Reflection and Exchange

Week 2: Light

Monday 7^th 9.30am – 11.30am September: Introduction and Exercises: Luminosity

Friday 11^th 3.30pm – 5.30pm September: Reflection and Exchange

Week 3: Sound

Monday 14^th 9.30am – 11.30am September: Introduction and Exercises

Friday 18^th 3.30pm – 5.30pm September: Reflection and Exchange

Week 4: Dwelling

Monday 21^st 9.30am – 11.30am September: Introduction and Exercises: Exploring dwellings

Friday 25^th 3.30pm – 5.30pm September: Reflection and Exchange

Fee

The total fee payable for participating in the programme is £195. This is payable in two instalments: £95 on booking and £100 by the 15th August.

Booking

Booking places on the programme will be done on a first come first served basis. As places are limited we advise booking as soon as you can. Please note this event is now sold out.

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Lead Artists

Helen Felcey

Helen Felcey is a ceramics based artist, educator and curator who’s research interests blend craft, design and wellbeing. Her artistic projects connect with different communities, seeking to develop lasting creative partnerships, which bring enjoyment and insight through making. Helen teaches at Liverpool Hope University on BA Design as ceramics tutor and at Manchester School of Art with MA programmes leading the Health and Wellbeing Option. She has recently contributed to establishing a new MA within the Faculty of Arts and Humanities (MMU), MA Arts, Health and Social Change, which stems from the research-informed direction of the organisation Arts for Health. 

Priska Falin

In her research, artist-researcher Priska Falin concentrates on aesthetic experiences and embodied cognition in ceramic practice. The core of her artistic work engages with the ways we connect ourselves to world through material encounters. In her research and art, she draws from an abstract space where words fail to describe the embodied experiences that create the grounds for constructing ourselves. She is currently finalising her doctoral research in Aalto-University, Espoo Finland.