Artbox at Jean Stokes

Monday 8th - 14th July 2024

Viewing by appointment with Jean Stokes Community Centre

This exhibition comprises of a number of works from Artbox artists including a collaborative weave project.

About the Weave Project

This collaborative weave project included the work of 14 artists with learning disabilities: Rivka, Shine, Hisba, Shruti, Lana, Charlie, Pip, Guilia, Anna, Ashley, Maleat, Violet, Joel and Lekan.

The weave evolved over a period of time, starting out as smaller weaves, constructed and reconstructed, to this final piece, which maps the involvement of the artists over time, their relationship with each other, and their journey with this work. 

The artists were invited to collaborate in any way that felt comfortable for them. New ways of working, collaborations and friendships were formed. 

Shruti chose beautiful green and purple prints to create a smaller weave, Shine cut and added his bold signature abstract circle paintings. Lana and Joel contributed their recent print works to the weave, and Charlie wove them together with works of his own. Violet supported Lekan to cut some of the colourful abstract works he chose, and created smaller weaves to add to the weave. Pip added a new dimension to the work by creating loops and attaching them to the waves surface.

Maleat, a new artist at Artbox and Ashley worked together for the first time. They collaborated through instructions; Ashley came up with the command, "over" or "under" to guide how she wanted the weave to look, and Maleat performed the guidance, creating a creative bond between them. 

Rivka brought words to the piece, adding affirmations such as "Im pROUD OV me". Rivka's conscious choice to use her way of spelling the messages, may offer people who read the messages a moment of translation, and potentially an insight into different reading and communicating experiences that Rivka, people with learning disabilities and neurodiverse people may have.

Guilia, who has passion and close attention to detail, worked with Anna to finish the construction, weaving in the final strands and adding to its stability by using tape. This process represents Giulia’s role in the group, bringing people together and supporting them, and Anna's open and kind nature.

Through these shared moments of creating together, the piece represents the process of each artist and their relationship to each other.