From Nature to Space Exploration

Kirstie Briggs Bateman and Foxwood Family Point

Kirstie Briggs Bateman is a community artist specialising in felt- making and mosaic. Kirstie shared a range of creative processes and new materials with the children and parents and carers of Foxwood Family Point and together they discovered where their imaginations could take them.

Light projections took them into the forest and meadows, ribbons and fabrics initiated role play and cardboard boxes became a source of space discovery.

“In my work at York Art Gallery I have often used a projector and this is one thing I thought I would like to push further. In the first session I set the projector up, shining light onto a white sheet hung on the wall. The children discovered they could make shadows with all sorts of things from a treasure box. These images along with some very simple puppets we made led to much role playing and wild imaginings, from playing in the forest to jumping dolphins, magical creations.

Another week we explored natural materials, leaves and stones. I had 5 pillow cases each filled with different coloured leaves, one red another orange, yellow, green and brown. These colours were so strong they were enchanting and the children thought so too, they created rainbows and beautiful artwork with them"

“Working with the group presented me with an opportunity to have lots of fun with different mediums. It was an opportunity to develop my practice and explore process rather than end product with the children. For myself the journey of this project has been really rewarding it has let me throw away the tight boundaries I usually set of creating a glorious final product. We've used materials in ways they've never been used before and diverted from what we were supposed to be doing but found new and exciting techniques; we've learned and grown together”
Kirstie Briggs Bateman