Lesley mcdermott - gossip collective
Fundamental to Lesley’s practice as a visual artist is collaboration with like-minded creative and engagement with the wider community. Lesley has been an active member of artist-run collectives for many years, exhibiting regularly in group exhibitions. Alongside this, she has endeavored to encourage collaborative projects, exhibitions and events in the Forth Valley area and across the central belt, with artists in a variety of forums, regularly seeking out space to hold exhibitions and events. Lesley founded G.O.S.S.I.P. Collective in 2017, which continues to offer Arts opportunities to artists, often connecting with charities, businesses and community groups. Being inclusive underpins their approach and they aim to be diverse in both our membership and engagement, remaining free to join and open to all. Lesley is currently studying MLitt Fine Art Practice, Sculpture at GSA.
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The Project
Type of funding accessed: Micro Grant (up to £500)
The funding allowed Lesley to develop a series of large scale, site specific sculptural/ textile artworks at Bannockburn House. Before COVID, she had arranged to exhibit these as part of an event engaging the general public. The plans were adapted to an online version, with images, video and performance to be recorded remotely, coming together digitally, launching in November 2020. Essential to realising this series of artworks was the use of specialist screen print equipment to work on a larger scale. Due to lack of screen print facility locally and personal financial constraints, it has not been possible to explore printing onto large scale fabric lengths. The grant allowed Lesley to purchase the equipment to have facility to explore fabric printing techniques on a much larger scale. As her practice focuses on expressive projects, the purpose of this approach was to develop her skills in printmaking techniques which would greatly her benefit my practice within this difficult time, allowing her to take this project forward in a new context. Moreover, as there is currently no local available access to a light exposure unit (or large print tables) to facilitate fabric printing for artists in Stirling, the purchase of this equipment will also have the wider reaching benefit of becoming available to other artists and the public in future workshops at the Cowane center.