Outside In Exploring Collections at West Dean College of Arts and Conservation
In 2019, Kate was part of Outside In’s ‘Step Up: Exploring Collections’ training course at West Dean College of Arts and Conservation, Chichester. Along with five other artists, she explored the Edward James Foundation’s collection and archive for inspiration.
During the project, Kate’s focused on Edward James, the founder of West Dean College of Arts and Conservation, and how to tell the tale of his colourful, multi-layered and creative life to make it as accessible as possible by using photographs, objects and colours.
To do this, Kate discovered that when Edward James died, a curator travelled the world finding trunks stored in hotels where he’d left them. Within these trunks were treasures such as artworks, jewellery, and masses of poetry and letters Edward James had written and received. Using the trunks as a starting point, Kate obtained threads from West Dean’s world-renowned tapestry studio (they wove Henry Moore’s tapestries), to link each segment of James’s life: personal, music, art, homes, etc.
On each differently coloured thread, there is are simple questions and answers – for example: ‘where was Edward James born?’. Also included on the relevant strands were images of the people and places associated with him.
Edward Frank Willis James (16 August 1907 – 2 December 1984) was a British poet known for his passionate support of surrealist artists, and British poets, e.g. John Betjeman. As a sponsor of Salvador Dali, his collection of Dali’s paintings and art objects was accepted as one of the finest collections of surrealist works in private hands. They collaborated on the Mae West Sofas and Lobster Telephones which James installed in his private home near West Dean House. On his death, as well as owning a substantial collection of Dali’s, his art collection included works by Hieronymus Bosch, Giorgio de Chirico, Paul Klee, Leonora Carrington, Pavel Tchlitchew, Pablo Picasso, Giacometti, Max Ernst, Magritte, Man Ray, and Paul Delvaux.
Edward James himself only wanted to be remembered as a poet.
This intrigued Kate so she investigated his romantic poetry James published himself. Spending hours in West Dean’s library, she explored how she was going to incorporate this into an artwork. Realising that the key lay in his tombstone in the ground of West Dean, Kate produced a portrait of him using some of the first lines of his poetry. The different coloured text links back to his letters and poetry writing where each line was written in a different colour ink.
As part of this project, Kate participated in a West Dean College open weekend, and an exhibition in West Dean House, and talk on the Step Up: Exploring Collections.
See here for press coverage:
https://www.artrabbit.com/events/outside-in-exploring-the-west-dean-collection