make online: journeys

What does it meant to ‘be an artist’ while also balancing so many other things, not least being a teacher?

Join us for make online: journeys, the next edition of our online event series dedicated to practical skill-sharing and knowledge exchange in artist-teacher practice.

Four artist-teachers share their unique journeys of continually making, unmaking and remaking their artist-teacher identities. In quick-fire presentations of 10 minutes or less, each reflects on their lived experience of negotiating the demands of being an artist, teacher and everything in between: from gradual shifts to radical changes, rejection, legitimacy and the tension between creativity and conformity.

Presentations

Posé (Alex Bolshakova)

This presentation reimagines rejection as raw material rather than a verdict. Through embroidering rejection letters onto hand-dyed fabric or paint rags, Posé transforms these impersonal notices into tactile records of persistence and care. She will share how this practice has reshaped her sense of artistic legitimacy—and how reframing rejection can model resilience for students.

Karen Schaschwary Brinker

Being a Mom, teacher, and artist is consuming. And often the emphasis is on how well you serve others. How can one make one’s art practice practical? Karen’s current quest is to figure out how to braid and weave all aspects together into a regular practice. What does art look like when you are balancing so much? You have to make it all material.

Paul Raymond

This presentation will focus on Paul’s journey after completing the Freelands Foundation make residency in 2021. Paul will present aspects of his current body of work, which explores the tension between creativity and conformity within his role as artist-teacher. He will share insights into his “Blobby” methodology and discuss the ways in which the practices of creating art and teaching have become increasingly symbiotic and interdependent.

Laura Yuile

In this talk, Laura will trace her journey as an artist-teacher working across the UK and China, reflecting on her experience teaching Digital Media Arts at UCA’s campus – Institute for Creativity and Innovation, a partnership with Xiamen University – in China. She will reflect on what changes when your practice moves into another cultural context: how notions of “insider” and “outsider” shift, how you engage with local communities, what learning curves emerge, and how these dynamics reshape both artmaking and teaching. She’ll share examples from her work that illustrate both challenges and opportunities in adapting to new audiences, infrastructure and expectations.

Image: Rejection letter on paint rag. Courtesy Alex Bolshakova.