Andrea Chappell: Print Clan Artist in Residence 2024
The first artist in our 2024 residency programme, Andrea Chappell of Acme Atelier, documents her month in the Print Clan studio using natural inks to screenprint 12 metres of cotton, ready to be stitched into what would become the ‘Foragers Kilt’.
Acme Atelier is the bespoke kiltmaking studio of Andrea Chappell, where traditional crafts combine with narrative design, often through socially engaged, collaborative practice.
“My aim is to promote the hand-stitched, heritage craft of kiltmaking, whilst expanding the possibilities of pleat construction and handmade textile creation, hoping that with greater recognition from a modern audience we may sustain these skills for generations to come.”
Images provided courtesy of Andrea Chappell
I began my Moray Kilt Series project in 2021, the year that traditional kiltmaking entered the HCA Red List of Endangered Crafts, an annual survey of heritage crafts that form part of our cultural heritage in the UK, aiming to support the continuation of traditional skills into the next generation.
My Print Clan residency has allowed me to realise the Foragers Kilt; a part of the Moray Kilt Series, and connect the community workshops that began this project in my home town Forres in 2023, through my local arts organisation Findhorn Bay Arts.
In partnership with local charity Nature4Health I developed print based activities as part of their community wellbeing sessions in outdoor settings. Participants created visual resources in response to their surroundings, to be used in the making of this kilt length of cloth.
Through different methods the community created a representation of the local landscape which I then digitised into assets for printing during the residency. My first hurdle at the studio was to transfer these onto the large A1 screen to create a camouflage repeat pattern.
Having Arianna’s expertise to support this was invaluable, as my initial technological approach didn’t work so well, so she suggested returning to a more analogue method of physically collaging onto the screen which totally saved the day!
The Foragers Kilt is a multi layer screenprint using natural inks made by Madder Cutch & Co onto a cotton made in Scotland by wax cotton specialists, Halley Stevensons. The intention is to showcase the natural environment in which the foragers works, by creating a camouflage pattern from things found in the woodlands in which he works, to create a functional and fully bio-degradeable contemporary highland (work)wear outfit, co-created with community groups.
“Seven colours of ink, using 4 separate screens in multiple repeats and random layering were printed across the 12m of cotton over the course of the month long residency. Plant based wax is then applied after the print, back at the studio, making use of their fantastic long print table, expert helping hands and multiple hairdryers!”
The screens were then used in for a community workshop that developed individual printed furoshiki wrappers with care experienced young people within the Articulate Cultural Trust. The cloth and kilt was shown within the Moray Kilt Series work in progress show, on September 26-29th 2024 as part of the 5th Findhorn Bay Arts Festival.