A creative workshop exploring gardens and garden-processes through embodied drawing, writing and language

Join us for a creative workshop as part of ‘grafted-on’ – the new exhibition by Kirsty Badenoch.

In this workshop we will explore ‘grafting’ both as a thinking-process that brings together disparate ideas, viewpoints, places and plants; as well as a mark-making process of seeing, tracing and collaborating.

In horticulture, the practice of grafting inserts a cutting from one plant into the stem or root of another, leading them to grow together as a single organism. The word comes from the Greek -graphein, meaning to write or draw. Experimenting with these ideas of ‘grafting’ in the garden and greenhouses, we will explore creative methods of drawing and writing, considering how horticultural processes might help us draw connections with the more-than-human world.

Cultivate Colindale community garden is home to thousands of rescued plant species from across the globe, and to rehabilitated clay and reclaimed materials from across London. This unique, temporary urban garden forges connections across remote geographies, peoples and species, forming the inspiration and testing-grounds for the workshop.

We will work with materials from the garden, engaging our bodies and our senses. We will explore playfully and intuitively through quick-exercises, opening ourselves up to chance, accident and discovery. And as we deepen our observations, conversations and practices, together we will create new large-scale collaborative works with the garden and one another.

Everyone is welcome, whether you draw as part of your everyday practice, or you haven’t drawn since you were at school!

Arrivals

Join us from 10:30am to slow down and make yourself at home, explore the gardens and exhibition, and enjoy a warm drink.

What to bring and wear

All materials will be provided, though feel free to bring a favourite pencil/charcoal. We ask you to bring a spirit of openness, playfulness and curiosity! Hot drinks and snacks will be provided, please bring water and/or a flask.

The workshop will be held both indoors and outdoors, with some walking, body-movement, and sitting on the ground. Please wear weather-appropriate clothing and shoes that you can easily move around in. There are toilets on site. If you have any specific access needs then please let us know in advance and we’ll try our best to accommodate.

About Kirsty Badenoch

Kirsty is an artist, curator, design researcher and educator. Her work addresses the social regeneration of damaged and degraded ecosystems through embodied and participatory practices. She engages with ecologists, marginal community groups, NGOs and institutions to re-entangle relations between human and more-than-human actors. Her practice encompasses drawing, installation, performance, publication and events. Kirsty teaches at The Bartlett UCL and University of Cambridge, is curator of Microscope, an art-and-ecology space in Dalston, and her PhD at The Bartlett explores reforestation as a collaborative social practice.