Spotlight: Alice Bowen-Churchill

Spotlight: Alice Bowen-Churchill
Alice Bowen-Churchill is an educator, artist and designer who features on the line-up for our upcoming Summer After Hours (10th July). We caught up with Alice to find out more about her practice, her work with discarded tents and how participation is key to her practice:  

💭My creative practice is varied and not limited to textiles. While I explore different media, my research and material exploration often follow a similar path. I seek out unexpected materials and enjoy the problem-solving aspect of working with what I have available. There's a resourcefulness in my methods; it’s not just about sustainability, but also about embracing the element of chance in what can be created. When Oxfam approached me to design a festival engagement project for 2024, I instinctively thought of using tents. The abandoned tents left behind at festivals juxtaposed against the tents utilised in refugee camps prompted a powerful conversation about supporting change. 
💭 My favourite piece in Soft Power has to be Alice Kettle's large piece: I have been an admirer of Alice's work since my mum introduced me to it nearly 30 years ago. I love her use of scale and mark-making; it is just so ambitious and bold. Textiles is often seen as a medium that exists solely as a functional item for the home; through seeing Soft Power, you can see that Textiles can be so much more than that.  I am fascinated by how Alice Kettle often works on the reverse of her pieces, creating a looseness to her 'drawn' stitched lines, which adds an element of chance that I seek in my own practice. This piece in particular invites us all to be a part of it, being part of something bigger. The drawings resonate with the audience; they bring back notions of school tea towels and kids' drawings stuck with magnets to our fridges.

💭Participation has become fundamental to my practice in recent years. As both an educator and a maker, I thrive on conversation and community-building. I genuinely believe that we can achieve more together; I often remind the participants that 'many hands make light work.' Whether they contribute one stitch or a hundred, their involvement helps create something larger than themselves.

📆  After Hours is on the 10th July at the RWA

📔 Line up: Music from DJ Chiedza (Diverse Artists Network), artists: Anurita Chandola,  Alice Bowen-Churchill + chance to see Soft Power: Lives told through textile art