Client: Riverside Independent Living Homes
Location: Hull, United Kingdom
Completion date: 2019
Artwork budget: $20,000
Project Team
Artist
Julia Vogl
Public Art Agent
Hannah Holden
Art Link Hull
Overview
I was commissioned to conduct 9 weeks of workshops with residents at Riverside ( including individuals age 18-100 living with various conditions including dementia, Anxiety, MS, Parkinson’s) the permanent work in their homes reflect their various sentiments about home. Through conversations, it became apparent every moment and day is filled with highs and lows and I wanted to create an undulating work that spoke to that ever changing state. The colours reflect nostalgic items in their previous homes and their current new space.
Silkscreen prints on birch ply, custom wood jig puzzles, custom light box, foamed frieze units, coloured vinyl, a digitally loomed cotton tapestry, and voices of the residents.
The Frieze at Harrison Park is 5M x 1.8 M and there are two of them. The Light box and tapestry at Cecil Gardens are each 1M square. The Puzzles at Redwood Glades are 75cmx75cm and there are 4 of them.
Goals
The goal was for the residents to feel more at home. For this home to reflect their ideas and sentiments about home, and for the colours to reflect nostalgic items from their previous homes in their current new space.
Process
From September to December of 2018 the commission was to work with the residents off all three Riverside Care homes across Hull in effort to uncover what makes a HOME – and what make this a home to our residents. Julia created nine different workshops to engage participants in different creative faculties and also build community in a socially engaging and open space. Participants explored photography, finger knitting, arm knitting, and Virtual Reality painting. Making a variety of outcomes from light boxes to learning to block print on tea towels. All the workshops were entangled with talk about wellbeing, Hull history, their own histories and events on the horizon. The artworks in this series Julia created, include a Lightbox, a tapestry, a frieze and some interactive hand printed puzzles; all are inspired by these conversations and engagement. The pieces are layered texture of the with the residents own work and coloured with all the individual spirit that Julia found herself surrounded by every week at each of the homes