Final Line-up … BAMM Forum 2023

Pushing Boundaries

Tickets :https://BAMMForum2023.eventbrite.co.uk

7 & 8th October 2023

Peak District village of Youlgreave

In-person and Online

Speaker Information

Francesca Busca

About Francesca

I like to define myself as an eco-artivist. Torn between optimism and surrender, I am  haunted by the idea of mankind’s imminent self-destruction. Yet, I believe in a future for humanity of resourceful innovation through re-thinking, re-purposing and reducing. It is this hope that I flaunt in my work, which is made out of waste.

I thoroughly enjoy working within the ethical and material limitations involved, using materials which often take years to gather. They call for a constant and ingenuous adaptation, and every tessera I create is in itself a protest against our current disposable lifestyle, keeping my carbon footprint to the bare minimum and providing a different perspective on rubbish: from waste to wonder.

I hope to inspire real change, and a move from an unsustainable anthropocentric society to an all-encompassing circular economy focused on the common good of the whole eco-system.

Francesca's Talk

A little theory on what is eco-artivism, and how can it be applied in mosaic? 

In practice: How to sell people their own waste and get away with it ethically 

www.francescabusca.com

Instagram: @Francesca_busca, @art_for_trash 

Youtube: @francescabusca

LinkedIn: Francesca Busca

Kelley Knickerbocker

About Kelley

Seattle based, self-taught visual artist Kelley Knickerbocker left a 22-yr administrative career at the University of Washington in 2006 to found Rivenworks, where she builds wall panel artworks in a ruggedly dimensional style that merges assemblage and mosaic, often making use of the rudiments and detritus of other making processes.

Kelley’s work is the distillation of her fascination with material properties, and in 2015 garnered her the Innovation in Contemporary Mosaic award from the Society of American Mosaic Artists, and the 2021 the New Horizons Innovation award from the Mosaic Association of Australia and New Zealand. Her work is widely collected and regularly exhibited in the US and abroad, and has been featured in numerous mosaic books.

In addition to her studio practice, Kelley travels extensively teaching in-depth workshops on mosaic style and technique, collaborating, and speaking on creativity and the practice of art.

Kelley's Talk

Kelley’s talk is entitled: To Step, Stride, or Leap: The Calculus of Boundary-Pushing

Thoughts on choosing which boundaries to push in our mosaic practice, and when/how to push them, from the standpoint of a self-described status-quo fan admiring the hell out of all you gutsy rebels.

www.rivenworksmosaics.com

Instagram @K2makes  

FB RivenworksMosaic

Carrie Reichardt

About Carrie

Carrie Reichardt is an outspoken, politically charged and ceramic slinging artist, leaving a trail of poetry and prose in her wake.

Her award-winning public work reflects her sustained engagement with people, place and politics, with a focus on marginalized groups and their hidden histories. Reichardt draws on local archival sources to create works that resonate with the communities they are set within and describes her work as a form of “ceramic tapestry” – weaving local people and their histories together.

Reichardt has been involved in community and public art projects for over two decades, designing and consulting on large-scale mosaic murals both in the UK and abroad.

Carrie's Talk

Mad in Stoke/Strong Women of St Helens

A visual diary of the making of Reichardt’s last two public art projects.

‘Mad in Stoke’ created for the AWARD exhibition at this year’s British Ceramic Biennale which we feature  a 1969 Ford Zephyr donated by DJ Fatboy Slim mosaic with smiley faced ceramic plates and ecstasy pills decorated to tell the story of Stoke-on-Trent’s rave culture.

‘Strong Women of St Helens’ – part one of a two part community/public art project funded by The National Lottery Fund  to celebrate and highlight the untold stories of women in St Helens and Knowsley.

www.carriereichardt.com

#carriereichardt

Stephanie Roberts

About Stephanie

It is my interpretation of the blended industrial and natural landscapes of my home, that continue to inspire themes and materials that define my work. Living in industrialised South Wales, over time I absorbed the materials from this landscape and utilised their qualities in my work.

Lead is the signature component material of my mosaic artwork. Lead manipulation allows me to lift the pencil line from the surface of the substrate and bring it to the surface of the mosaic, creating added definition of form, height diversity and an undulating flow, 'contoured mosaic'. This way of working enables me to retain a freeness of form and a liner appearance to my mosaic artworks. Ultimately this approach, keeps me connected to the fluidity of my drawings.

My main fields of interest are women's safety issues and environmental issues, which form the themes for my personally developed projects, school and public art projects.  

Stephanie's Talk

The Street Fairy Project

I created the #Streetfairy character, as a personal response to the increasing venerability of women in society, that became highlighted after the death of Sarah Everard in 2021. 

The character to me symbolises the belief that a change in attitudes toward women can be achieved. As I reached to my community with my makings, many women requesting a fairy, they took  personal possession of their meaning, giving them 'permission’ to address personal safety issues, a 'street guardian’. 

The Street Fairy Project enables me to stay connected to my female community, through art and activity. Providing women and girls a positive experience in the process of making. Helping to support the reclaiming of positive attitudes towards public spaces. 

http://www.stephanierobertsart.com

FB Stephanie Roberts, Mosaic Artist

Instagram- stephanierobertsart

Will Rosie

About Will

Will Rosie is one of Southampton’s leading artists, and well known for the dozens of mini-mosaics scattered across the city; most notably those of the Mr Men, Marvel and The Simpsons.

Will is self-taught and started creating mosaics in 2007. Since then he has produced mosaic pieces of art for a large number of clients, including Peter Andre’s 60 Minute Makeover, Disney and Guinness World Records. Will has also had his work featured on both national and international news platforms.
His personal vision is to see Southampton become the ‘Barcelona of England’ in regards to mosaics.

Will lives in Southampton with his wife, Susie, their dog, Stamp, and whichever of their children happen to living at home at the time!

Will's Talk

I plan to regale you all with tales of how I accidentally started my own mosaic business and some surprising commissions I landed. I’ll also be waxing lyrical about my journey into illegal street art, and why it led to having dinner with the Lord Mayor of Southampton.

Mr Mosaic | Covering the world one mosaic tile at a time...

FB https://www.facebook.com/allaboutartltd

Instagram @Mrmosaicwill

Phil Smith (aka the Grouchy Grouter)

About Phil

Phil lives in Youlgreave and invited BAMM to host the Forum there.  Fairly recent to mosaics, Phil has been a Well-Dresser all his life, and a designer since 2005.   He first encountered mosaics in 2018 after visiting Josie Martin’s garden in New Zealand.  Now you can’t stop him!  Having retired from a successful career as a hairdresser, Phil now spends most of his time making his own tesserae for his extraordinary mosaic projects.

"Now I’m in my 70th year I feel I can’t hang about. After 50 years as a hairstylist, having my own business & bringing up two children, at last it’s time to be even more creative.

Making handmade tiles has slowed me down it’s not the dilemma you might think. I usually work far too fast so having to make everything gives me time to reflect. Working in glass and crockery will always be fun but going down the ceramic path, it’s the alchemy of glazes that really attracts me. 

Having had no formal education in the arts, leaving school at 15 it’s only now I’m fulfilling a dream. Doing hair is how I made my bread and butter. it’s now time to spread the marmalade so to speak."

Phil's Talk

Phil’s talk will focus on his newly-found career and what mosaic making has in common with Well-Dressing.

grouchygrouter.co.uk 

Instagram @grouchygrouter68  

Wilma van der Meyden

About Wilma

Born and raised in South Africa, I ventured to Europe in my early twenties to explore my roots. There I met my Glaswegian husband and have since lived in the Netherlands, USA and Australia before settling in Glasgow in 2016. Ever since I can remember I’ve enjoyed making things and on my journey I’ve obtained a Master of Fine Art Degree from the University of Pretoria in South Africa and more recently, a Master in Creative Practices from the Glasgow School of Art. I had worked on community  mosaic murals in the Netherlands before moving to Glasgow and have recently completed my first public mosaic mural in Scotland at SWG3.  I am grateful for the ongoing support and encouragement from the members in BAMM. In my art making I am  particularly interested in the potential of art to articulate the social dimension of our multi-layered, complex ‘lived spaces’ in cities.

Wilma's Talk

The Thornwood Mosaics is a series of twelve urban art interventions in Glasgow. Each of these is two dimensional, in the shape of a bowl and the size of two hands cupped together. My talk will include a brief account of the origin, installation and impact of these mosaics that are nestled on walls in Thornwood.

Instagram    @Wilma_van_der_Meyden

Maud Milton

Based in East London, Artyface was founded by Maud Milton in 1999 to provide high quality, legacy public art. Community involvement is integral to their projects: they estimate work with 4000 + people per year, bringing people of all ages and abilities together to create art that can be enjoyed for generations to come.

Instead of a short talk we will be showing a short film by John Rodgers which features an interview with Maud in her studio in Trinity Buoy Wharf at Leamouth, East London where she creates her signature mosaic roundels that are seen in railway stations around London. 

https://artyface.co.uk/wp/

@maudmilton