Hello there, I’m Angelique Talbot and I’m in the final weeks of my MA Designer Maker course. I’m a mature student who arrived at Camberwell with no previous art qualifications, except from a City & Guilds certificate in patchwork and quilting. It has been an amazing (and very challenging!) journey to understand what I want to share with the world through my art work. I have learnt so much about myself in the process, and am so pleased of having made it to the final show with work I am excited to share!
My MA research has explored the concepts of our sense of self, and how our identity is built from the shadows of places we dwell in throughout our lives. I have delved deep into some fascinating philosophy about the nature of identity and how we portray our inner experiences to others. Building on my textile craft heritage, I developed my own material and making process to communicate these personal experiences to the outside observer. Using old maps, I create long hand-twisted fibres which represent the real and imagined places which embed themselves into the self; a contemporary cartography perhaps?
“A taxonomy of my place identity”, by Angelique Talbot
Detail of “A taxonomy of my place identity”, by Angelique Talbot
My first career was as a researcher in theoretical physics, so I have always been intrigued by conceptual questions of the nature of the universe and our place in it. I believe there is always a way to present even the most difficult topics, so anyone can understand and engage with them. Over the course of my degree study I have become passionate about using traditional craft skills as a contemporary medium for discussion of complex issues relevant in today’s society: questions of personal and cultural identity, displacement, isolation and loneliness. What happens when you have no place you feel is home?
Through the simple act of making string, repeated countless times, I hope to draw attention to these questions with a material which is at once familiar yet unfamiliar. My final show work, An encounter with myself, uses hand-made yarn from maps significant to the formation of my own identity to offer a glimpse of my sense of self.
I have enjoyed immensely creating an installation for the final show and hope to be able to create larger-scale more immersive works in the future. The MA Visual Arts Summer Show will be my first public exhibition, so I am very much looking forward to getting some real feedback from visitors. Do come by and say hello!
Detail of “An encounter with myself”, Angelique Talbot
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