As spaces evolve, they carry the memories, stories, and histories of everyone who has passed through them. Over the last few months, our artists in residence have been exploring themes of home, local history, architectural heritage and community as part of the project This Place, This Stage.
From hands-on masterclasses to collaborative peer feedback reviews, this residency has been a hub for professional and artistic growth. We invite you behind the scenes to see the talented artists’ work in progress, and to announce our upcoming open call for the next cohort of our creative residencies.
Meet the Artists & Their Practices
Jasmine Lockett
Jasmine’s practice serves as a beautiful, sentimental archive through painting, drawing and craft processes. She explores the idea of “people as home,” looking at how physical structures, sentimental objects, and the locations we inhabit hold memories of home. Her work weaves together personal histories – ranging from the houses she has lived in to non-human homes (like a vivid memory of an ants’ nest in one of her childhood backyards!).
By playing with real and surreal concepts, Jasmine blurs the boundaries between tangible, physical structures and ephemeral memories. To bring these multi-media narratives together, she is developing painted sculptural wooden panels, crocheted road signs of past homes, experimenting with how 2D and 3D forms can seamlessly coexist in a shared space, and portraits of people in her life.
Above: Jasmine’s studio space showing some of her work in progress.
Faye Wilson
Faye is an illustrator and graphic designer who’s drawn to the rich film heritage of our building at Make Huyton Village, specifically looking at Western cinematic motifs and the history of “The Ranch.” She is building a world through character design and imagery that is iconic to the historic cinema, and Western films.
Faye has been inspired by community anecdotes – such as a local story of cinema-goers bringing their admission money to the box office in old jam jars. To expand her digital illustration background, Faye is experimenting with hand drawings more to develop her practice.
Above: Faye working on a laser cut design in a masterclass.
Emily Edwards
Emily’s practice focuses on expanded painting and site specific installation. Her work is rooted in history, driven by extensive archival and anecdotal research into the Ranch cinema, its immediate surroundings, and the community’s collective memory before it became what it is today. Her practice evokes a powerful, nostalgic quality through its vibrant color palette, fun drawing style and Western motifs.
Drawing inspiration from Western film icons like cowboy boots, horses, and sheriff badges, Emily has distilled her research into playful drawings, collages and sketchbooks. Some of their research in progress was exhibited in the Make Huyton Village Showcase earlier this year in May, which was a great way to add historical context to the event.
Above: pages from Emily’s sketchbook of her work in progress.
Upskilling Through Masterclasses
An essential part of our residency program is providing development opportunities to sustain a professional creative career. Group feedback sessions, 1-1 mentoring and masterclasses take place to support the artists. For instance, we recently had a week of masterclasses to develop specialist skills in our Innovation Lab and with Amy (Marketing & Communications Manager) and mentor Dan (Community & Project Co-ordinator).
- Vinyl & Sticker Cutting – Translating studio work into vinyl designs and stickers which can be applied to a range of practices.
- Marketing & Networking – Reflecting on their current social media presence, and learning about strategies to develop their online presence to connect with professionals in the arts, culture and creative industries.
- Laser Cutting Technology – Hands-on technical fabrication upskilling that can be utilised in different ways of making.
Above: a moment during the week of masterclasses in the Innovation Lab at Make Huyton Village. The sticker & vinyl cutting and laser cutter sessions were run by Make Huyton Village resident Phaedra Bell.
Shape Your Practice: Open Call for Our Next Cohort
As this cohort comes to the mid-point of their residency, we are thrilled to announce that applications for our next cohort on our creative residency opens on Monday 3rd August. Our residency program offers studio space, professional mentorship, 1-1 and group development sessions, technical upskilling, and a collaborative peer environment.
Keep a look out on our socials and mailing list to see when applications are open!
Artist Spotlight: Cath Garvey
Cath Garvey is an illustrator and animator who’s a resident at Make Huyton Village. Cath developed the branding for This Place, This Stage during workshops with young people in Halewood and Huyton. She identified the colours and shapes young people liked by experimenting with letter stamps, tape and collage. It’s great to have our community of creatives involved in this project!
Above: collages from the workshops with young people in Halewood and Huyton.
Above: This Place, This Stage logo design by Cath Garvey
