Welcome to Art-Work Studios, Tal!
Tal sees art-making as a strategy for community building, activism and advocacy; as a way to engage people with the everyday practice of democracy. Using collaboration, research and a range of textile-based practices Tal combines physical techniques of appliqué quilting and embroidery with the practice of socially-engaged art making and digital tools.
Read about Tal’s work, her thoughts on collaboration, and her favourite songs by Gold Coast musicians in our interview below. Next time you drop by our Studio make sure you say hi!
We’re really excited to have you in-residence at Art-Work Studios. Can you please tell us about yourself and a dream for the year ahead?
My name is Tal Fitzpatrick, I’m an Israeli born Australian artist/craftivist/researcher based on the unceded lands of the Kombumerri families of the Yugambeh language region. I grew up on the GC and I hold a PhD in Visual Art from the Victorian College of the Arts (2018) and a Bachelor of Arts with First Class Honours from Griffith University (2010).
I’m best known for my work in the field of craftivism and, along with collaborators such as Kate Just and Stephanie Dunlap, I’ve led several global craftivism projects that tackle significant social, political and environmental issues including the @Covid19quilt (2020), the Universal Declaration of Human Rights Quilt Project (2016-2018) and the PM Please Quilt Project (2017).
My textile based practice is strongly influenced by the work of my paternal grandmother, Australian artist Dawn Fitzpatrick (1922-2021). My practice combines the physical techniques of appliqué quilting and embroidery with the practice of socially-engaged art making and digital tools including social media. My work been exhibited in museums, galleries and art spaces in Melbourne, Sydney, Canberra, Hobart, Gold Coast and abroad in Sweden, Canada and America.
My academic work which centers around craftivism as a mode of DIY citizenship and more recently as a way to engage with the issue of gender based violence has been included in various publications including Care Ethics and Craft (J. Milner & G. Coombs, 2022) and Crafting Dissent: Handicraft as Protest from the American Revolution to the Pussycats (H. Mandell, 2020). I’ve also self-published several catalogues of my work as well as a craftivism handbook titled Craftivism: A Manifesto/Methodology (2018) for anyone who is interested in learning more about craftivism!
In addition to my work as an artist and researcher I’ve has accumulated a diverse range of experiences working in the non-profit, disability sectors, service industry and most recently as an artist educator at HOTA which is where you can currently find me running workshops and delivering fun public programming events.
My dream for the year ahead is that I get to make and show lots of art and that people here on the Gold Coast get to know my work a little better.
Please take us on a brief journey into your collaborations, craftivism and studio practice?
As a ‘Craftivist’ and a participatory artist my project generally involve creating textile works via largescale collaborations with other artists, makers, activists and organisations. My projects often involve lots of people in the making process and use textile arts such as quilting and embroidery to bring attention to human rights issues. Some of my major projects include the Changemakers exhibition which is currently on show at Old Parliament House in Canberra, the @covid19quilt (2021), Signs for Our Times (2020), Six Moments in Kingston (2019), the UDHR Quilt Project (2018) and the PM Please Quilt (2016). These all involved working with others either in the creation of the physical work (e.g. The 131 artists who embroidered the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on to A4 pieces of fabric which were then sewn together to make the four UDHR Quilts), or in collecting the text/messages conveyed in the artworks (e.g. The 121 messages to Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull which I then stitched onto suit swatches and sewed into a quilt that was then gifted to the Prime Minister).
I often choose to work collaboratively (whether that is working together with others in the same physical space on the same artwork – or by working individually and bringing artworks together using digital technology as in the case of the @covid19quilt project) because I am interested in deploying art as a strategy for community building, activism and advocacy and as a way to engage people with the everyday practice of democracy. For me art is, in part, a way to make change through the physical processes of making. I have witnessed time and again through my participatory projects that we gain a greater sense of agency through engaging in the imaginative creative processes of making something with our hands. As Betsy Greer, the godmother of craftivism, explained (I’m paraphrasing here): making something by hand reminds us that we have the power to change the world around us.
If you want to learn more about my work and take a look at some of my previous projects you can check out my work at talfitzpatrick.com
What exciting projects will you be working on in the studio?
I’m so excited to be at Art-Work Studios for the next four months! While in residence I’ll be working on a two week solo-exhibition that will take place at Art-Work Gallery from the last week of May 2023. The exhibition will be titled ‘Quietly Seething’ and is an exploration of feminine rage.
The majority of the work I create for this show will be made using textiles, however I will also be exploring a few other mediums such as photography, installation and sound works in order to help me make visible the wide range of things that female identifying folk are quietly furious about.
‘Quietly Seething’ is going to be an unusually personal body of work for me, meaning I’ll be creating work that centres my own voice in a way that I haven’t really done in the past. In saying that, like many of my previous socially-engaged projects, there will be opportunity for people who are interested in this body of work to get involved and to share their own experiences of feminine rage. In fact, I’m planning to host some collective stitching workshops during my time at Art-Work and there will also be some opportunities to get involved in some making during the exhibition itself so keep an eye out on my socials if you’re interested in getting involved in a more hands-on way! (@talfitzpatrick)
What is special about living on the Gold Coast?
I love the Gold Coast, I moved here with my family when I was 8 years old (from Israel), and while it took a while to find my place/community here, I couldn’t be happier to call this city my home. I’ve only recently come back from living in Melbourne for 7 years which is where I completed my PhD, I found that even after all that time I never really acclimatised to the cold or the bustle of big-city life.
My partner and I are living in Miami now and being able to walk along the beach every day… even just to getting to see as much of the horizon and hinterland as we do here… it really helps to centre and ground me. More than anything however we love it here because this is where our families are and where the majority of our life-long friends, colleagues and peers are – we’re here because of this wonderful community that nurtures and inspires us.
What are some of the habits and rituals that drive your studio and life practices?
Hmmmmm… I guess my ideal day goes from 10AM – 4PM, starting with a walk along the beach and an iced coffee, then when I get to the studio I put the music on loud and get sewing! Appliqué quilting is a lot like collage in some ways, the process kind of dictates that you create all the bits and pieces first and then you can play with composition before pining and stitching everything down.
A lot of the harder thinking-based work gets done upfront with my making which means in the later stages of creating my textile works often all I have left to do is the slow repetitive work of adding sequins, beads, and finer hand-embroidered details. This part of the process can be really chill and meditative, I get through a lot of podcasts during this time and it can also be really social because I can do this kind of sewing while I have visitors come and hang out with me in the studio – which I LOVE.
What are you listening to right now? Link us to your favourite playlist.
My partner and most of my close friends are all musicians and music has always been a VERY important part of my life and my creative processes. I always have music playing at the studio while I work but I’m not going to share a playlist because I listen using Apple not Spotify (they pay artists better!) and the playlist thing isn’t the same… broadly speaking I guess you could say what I listen to most falls under the broad umbrella of ‘indie’ music, with artist like Julia Jacklin, Lucy Dacus, Fontaines D.C., Widowspeak, Aldus Harding, Middle Kids, and Dry Cleaning topping my 2022 list.
So, instead of a playlist I’ll share a few song recommendations by some of my favourite Gold Coast-based artists (many of whom are my dear friends and some of which have recorded with my partner, music producer George Carpenter, who has also played drums/keys on several of the tracks in this list):
Mighty Judgement, Karl S. Williams
On My Way To You, Emily Grace Taylor
Lately, Eimhin
The Longest Flight, Lily Budiasa & Benjamin Holloway
Don’t Wanna Go Home, Alisha Todd
Dressed in Gold, Little Georgia
I Got Love, Maddison Breen
Sabotage, Amy John Roberts
Higher Harm, Old Sault
Glass, Moreton
Diesel Forever, Full Flower Moon Band
Springtime Is Coming, JB Paterson
(Okay so these last three are technically Brisbane, but still, they play here all the time and they are the best)
Photography by Claudio Kirac.