Internship with Artist and Scientist Karen Ingham
At the end of May, this year, I was offered the chance to undertake an internship with artist and scientist Karen Ingham. Ingham is a Professor of Art and Science and Technology Interactions, she combines the design process with scientific research in order to make educational pieces to interest the viewer, as we all know that not everyone enjoys looking at a wordy essay, but colourful and fun imagery printed on massive fabric pieces? Now that's something people can't ignore!
My role in this internship was to use Karen as a mentor, so the time I spent with her was both about my personal learning and us working as a team to produce her artworks. My responsibilities included test printing designs on fabrics, then steaming , washing and drying these samples for Karen to then check and adjust the designs as needed. Digital printing was not something I was confident in doing completely alone at the start of the internship as I had only ever used this process in a group, so I tended not to have to remember the exact process as our group would have help from technicians at the university! But as time passed and I spent a few weeks working within my internship, I have gained confidence in this process and can use the machinery and software completely alone with ease, which is a helpful skill both for my last year studying at the university but also for when I graduate and forge a career out of my Surface Pattern degree.
Whilst helping to actually produce these fabrics for Karen I learnt more about what they were intended for, which is an exhibition called "Cross-Pollination" being held at the National Botanic Garden of Wales in Carmarthenshire. This exhibit aims to bring art and science together to produce artworks that depict the crisis facing pollinators. Karen Ingham particularity focused on hoverflies for her contributions to this exhibit, which is interesting for me as I have been starting to use insects as a main inspiration point, from my second year project "Phasmatodea" to my Major project for my third year. It has been so useful for me to be able to work alongside someone who also has this very same interest, and her work has inspired me to look closer into the backstory behind insects and the science side of the environment rather than just the aesthetic side.
I am very much looking forward to continuing my internship with Karen in October, when I return to university, but in the meantime I am beginning my own research into pollinators and issues behind their extinction, and the broader picture of global warming and its effects on the environment to perhaps create my own work in response to these issues.
The exhibition "Cross-Pollination" will be available to view in the National Botanic Gardens of Wales up until Tuesday 29th August, so be sure to check it out if you have the time!
