Filomena the Woolly Brain with Tiny Brain , Gaelle Chassery, 2024 I am delighted to be part of the Please Touch! Exhibition organised by Fife Contemporary as part of the StAnza Festival 25. Five of my woolly sculptures will be displayed at the Byre Theatre, available to be interacted with from 14-30th March 2025. We will kick off the opening of the exhibition with an online talk on March 13th at 11am, where I will be discussing my work and the reasons why my woolly sculptures only feel complete once visitors can touch them and interact with them in person. The talk is free but booking essential. All details here Find all details about the exhibition here Nesting: Regulation Station , Gaelle Chassery, 2024

As our Dream Map Project* unfolds, I will be featuring artists taking part in this collaborative piece of art. Today, we hear from Homani Ahava and her embroidery "Stitching A Dream" along with the powerful poem she wrote to accompany it, and a lovely interview. Photo credit: Adi Ziv Av. STITCHING A DREAM  by Homani Ahava  (December 2024 / Month of Kislev 5785) During my stay in the land of the butterflies, they showed me their way of life.  Food neither comes from the blossoms of flowers, nor trees.  Their nectar of life, sweet, golden, bliss, runs through a network of hearts.  All butterfly beings are interconnected  through tubes in their middle -  an intricate, dynamic, flexible grid in whose center beats the heart of their world. There is an endless exchange of honey. They intentionally contract their hearts, pumping liquid warmth into communal tissue - while receiving nourishment  in return through their chords.  Sucking in juice by for...

As our Dream Map Project* unfolds, I will be featuring artists taking part in this collaborative piece of art. Today, we hear from Adriana G. Prat, whose dream embroidery panel is called "Think Something." Here is what Adriana says about "Think Something":   Materials:  Fabric mostly repurposed from rejected samples and scraps, and from my mother's sewing workshop (including organza dyed with acrylic paint), ribbon, and thread.   Statement for “Think Something”: Years ago, in a dream, my already deceased mother told me this simple yet firm sentence which I took as a call for action. While creating this abstract work, where red symbolizes my nurturing but demanding mother’s influence, and yellow represents me, I meditated on my evolution in a life-changing journey to redefine my identity, from an unfulfilled professional life where my creativity was muffled to the artist and environmental activist that I am today. Mom’s call has worked. Adriana answers a few ques...

  If you are as fond of Halloween as I am, you will enjoy Issue 2 of HNDL Magazine, which is wholly dedicated to spooky season.  I'm delighted to have my little Draculina featured there. You can read it for free here:  https://hndlmagazine.myportfolio.com/hndl-w-caution-vol-2

 

  I am excited to have my digital art exhibited for the first time as part of the Cinématographie Exhibition organised by Art Magnitude.  "Mirror Pools" will be projected at Fox Yard Studio in Stowmarket until Sept 28th.  Scroll to the bottom of this post for all details. 

  Follow the Adventures of the Woolly Book at the Lancaster University Library! My Sensory Book Undyed Shades of Scotland , is currently on its latest adventure, meeting lots of people and works of art at the Lancaster University Library Exhibition, organised to celebrate the 60th Anniversary of the building.  The Library put out an open call this year looking for artists who had a special link to the building or the area in order to build a collection of relevant works for the exhibition.  My special link to the building is that when I was a student, I worked as a librarian at the Avignon University Library, which bears many similarities to the Lancaster University Library: those buildings could be twins. To this day, it remains one of my favourite jobs. As I said in my application for the exhibition, the only bad memory I have of working there was to be stuck in the elevator at closing time on my way back from the archives in the basement. That was terrifying!  The...

Meet Filomena the Woolly Brain! In French, “fil” means “thread” or “wire” and the expression “donner du fil à retordre” means something is particularly challenging… so Filomena is aptly named: making her was a bit of a headache at times, but mostly it was a pleasure and I genuinely feel that I rewired my own brain with each stitch/cell I added.   Filomena is a hyperbolic structure crocheted with just over a kilogram of yarn. That’s over 2 kilometres (2300m), which is mindblowing. Although it is a simple structure, it was not an easy one to make… supremely complex and delightfully challenging, especially on my poor hands!  Why a brain: living at the intersection of neurological illness, autism and c-PTSD, developing an interest in the brain and neuroscience was a no-brainer. I am fascinated by neuroplasticity, brain rewiring and neural pathways. I am routinely frustrated by the limitations my brain conditions impose on me, but equally marvel at what my brain can do. On the whol...

I had a lovely conversation this week with Menstrual Cycle Coach Tanwen Llewelyn about navigating a creative life while honouring our menstrual cycle. We discussed how to use the cycle to guide our creative output and read into our capacities, how to manage the more challenging days, and how to interact with the body as a friend rather than a tool!  I loved being interviewed by Tanwen and hope you will enjoy the conversation.  Click HERE to watch the episode

Earlier this year I was honoured to be invited by Neuk Collective for a residency on quiet spaces in public spaces.  Read my guest blog post on the Neuk Collective website: Quiet Please: A Personal Exploration of Public Inclusivity

I recently enjoyed the opportunity to reflect on some insightful questions from LYLANI,  a multi-talented creative from South East London. Make sure to  check out LYLANI's work via the links at the end of this interview! LYLANI : Do you think your approach to your practice differs from your creative peers, due to how your autism presents itself? Gaelle: Yes: learning through traditional means is impossible for me. I can’t process tutorials, understand techniques, memorise jargon and directions. I tend to pick things up intuitively, improvising without support or guidelines, teaching myself by experimenting and coming up with a unique way of doing things. My mind is always problem-solving and designing in the background, so when I sit down to make something it is ready to come into existence, while maintaining openness regarding the outcome, which is a great balance. Tuning into that creative force feels effortless. I invariably enter monotropic flow states while creating, with...

The story of the Healing Seashore Shawl is a conversation, and this is what this case study reflects. Megan and I worked closely together to get exactly what she needed in this profoundly healing piece. She wrote such a beautiful testimonial about the commissioning process that I couldn’t resist including it in this post. Read about the plants, the people and the sheep who contributed to the making of this project.  The Seashore Shawl was a special project for me because of my closeness to the recipient, who has been a dear friend for many years. At all times I consider my work to be healing, both for me as a maker and for the person who will receive and use the finished piece. To be commissioned with this primary quality in mind was a real honour. I enjoyed taking into account the requirements that Megan generously shared with me so that we could get it just right.  Megan : From start to finish, commissioning a special shawl from Gaelle was easeful and special. She very thoug...