Honor Alys & Laurel Cara Graham
Graduate Scheme showcase 2024
We were proud to present ‘Big Feelings, Small Threads’, an exhibition by the 2022 - 2023 OUTPOST graduate scheme artists Laurel Cara Graham and Honor Alys.
A conversation between Emily Bray-Manning (EBM), Honor Alys (HA) and Laurel Cara Graham (LCG).
EBM: As OUTPOST’s 2023 selected graduate scheme artists you have had the opportunity to have a free OUTPOST studio space for 12 months. How has having this shared studio space and being a part of the OUTPOST community for the past year impacted and influenced you?
HA: I think having the studio has been the most important thing that has happened to me in the last year, after graduating I really struggled to find any inspiration or progress in my practice, I didn’t have the mental or physical space to develop new ideas or explore new processes. Having a space at OUTPOST gave me so much more confidence both in my artwork itself and also in myself as an artist, working in a shared space with Laurel was a big part of gaining back my confidence, and having someone to work around and who I felt involved with as part of a community was a game-changer. The committee’s support through the Graduate Scheme and into the exhibition has given me so much courage to make art, something which I had lost.
LCG: Firstly, I’m grateful to OUTPOST for giving me this opportunity. I moved to Norwich shortly after graduating and felt quite daunted at the thought of trying to enter a new art scene. OUTPOST Gallery was one of the first places I visited, and shortly after, it became a foundation that helped me establish a sense of community in Norwich, and the shared studio space only encouraged this to grow.
Each day, I’d notice wee changes in the studios around me. The space feels alive, making you feel part of something bigger. Being in that environment has been very nurturing and has encouraged me to push my practice in new directions I would have never expected. I’ve loved every second I’ve spent there. I’ll always cherish it.
EBM: From the work you have selected to exhibit in Big Feelings Small Threads, there is a clear lean towards textile-based practices in both of your works. What draws you to these materials and what approaches and processes do you take with your chosen materials to create the works we can see on show?
HA: It started gradually and mostly by accident, I think. I loved the texture of the raw canvas, and the way it so easily showed the marks of my process, and I really wanted to highlight the material, and work with it rather than against it. My work has always focused on intuition to develop each piece, and the casualness of the unprimed and unstretched canvases really spoke to me.
As I started becoming more interested in using text and typography, I found that embroidery really brought home that repetition and obsession that I was going through in my own internal monologue. I experimented with machine embroidery, however it lacked the intensity and intimacy that I was looking for and settled on painstakingly embroidering each piece myself. I take a lot of comfort in the imperfections that have come from it in each piece, as I work through this idea of ‘goodness’ and understand that not everything has to be perfect to have meaning.
LCG: The works in the exhibition are taken from my recent body of work Nowadays, which explores the subtle sweetness of day-to-day life. Each work is a textile collage based on an archive of images I’ve been taking since graduating, creating works that feel like a form of memorabilia. The collages are made of Terry Cloth that’s woven from cotton. Working with this medium has allowed me to create a delicate texture that interweaves intimacy with shared human experience.
Each piece goes through several processes that all come together like a collage in itself. It all starts with a couple of photographs that turn into a series of wonky collages. Once I’m happy with the composition, I’ll begin sculpting the work in Terry cloth. Each scrap of fabric slowly comes together to create large areas of form and shading. To finish things off, I’ll use paint to blend the transitions between the varying shades of fabric.
I’d never even worked with Terry Cloth before this body of work, but my lack of experience with the medium has given me a newfound playful perspective that’s made me fall even deeper in love with making art. It’s exciting to be pushing the boundaries of traditional textiles. Finding this way to blend all my favourite mediums has been incredibly liberating.
EBM: You have collaboratively chosen to title your graduate scheme exhibition; Big Feelings Small Threads. What does this title mean to you individually and what, if any, are the shared themes you have found between both of your creative practices?
HA: For me, the title Big Feelings Small Threads brings together the vulnerability and the intricacy in both Laurel and I’s work and highlights the connection between them. My own work comes from a very intimate place within myself, and Laurel’s work comes from a similarly intimate place within her relationships, by exploring those feelings through textiles and methods that require so much physical connection to the work, it imbues it with a certain softness, I think.
LCG: The title encapsulates the balance between the emotions behind the works and the softness of the mediums used to capture them.
Between Honors and I’s practices, there’s a similar rhythm shared with mark-making. Our works both go through intricate stages that come together like patchwork. It feels like a labour of love. Using textiles in untraditional ways seems integral to capturing the deep emotions behind the work.
Leading up to the exhibition, Honor and I hadn’t seen each other's work recently. Yet somehow, we’ve done the same amount of work and even share some similarities in scale, palettes, and composition. We’ve considered this coincidence with the curation of the show. Each piece has been carefully positioned to create a seemingly parallel balance.
EBM: Your joint exhibition is a chance to display the outcomes of your year as OUTPOST studio holders as well as celebrate how your practice has developed. As you reflect on 2023, do you have any thoughts or plans for the coming year and where your practice might take you next?
HA: I think my practice has already started developing down a new route, I want to begin focussing more heavily on traditional textile work and exploring ‘craft’ from the perspective of my last series. I think my work over the last year has really highlighted to me the way that my physical interaction with the work imbues it with a deep sense of intimacy, and I’d love to explore this more in depth, documenting my connection with other people using these mediums. I’ll be keeping hold of my studio to work in whilst I follow these new ideas.
LCG: I’m very excited about the direction of my work; making these pieces felt like a dream. I couldn't pull myself away from working on them most of the time.
I want to use this momentum to keep developing my practice and the boundaries of textiles. I can't wait to keep collecting moments of gratitude and continue documenting the subtle sweetness of life.
EBM: Lastly, do you have any final thoughts, feelings or words that sum up your experience of the OUTPOST 2023 graduate scheme?
HA: I think the main thing I’m taking away from the 2023 graduate scheme at OUTPOST, is how excited I am to feel as if I am going in the right direction. The support over the last year from the OUTPOST community and committee has given me the drive to start working towards some really cool things, and I’m so excited to keep moving forwards.
LCG: Graduate schemes like this are integral to helping artists establish themselves in the industry. University provides so much structure and community. Afterwards, it’s intimidating trying to navigate the industry without it.
Having a free studio space, mentorship, and, most importantly, support has helped me grow in ways I’d never imagined possible. We need more schemes like this in the industry, and I’ve felt beyond privileged to have been a part of this. The studios at OUTPOST are essential to the local arts scene, not just in Norwich but also in the surrounding areas. I know the whole community will miss the space, and I feel fortunate to have been able to experience it. Once again, I can't thank OUTPOST enough for their incredible support.