I have been commissioned to lead workshops with young people from Norwich International Youth Project (NIYP) for Norfolk Museums Service in autumn/winter 2019/2020. The sessions are part of the National Portrait Gallery’s ‘Coming Home’ project which sees the Gallery sending portraits of iconic individuals to places they are closely associated with. This country-wide initiative will enable fifty portraits from the national Collection to travel to towns and cities across the UK, providing venues and communities with the opportunity to celebrate their local heroes.
In the project with Norfolk Museums Service, we’ll be taking inspiration from the 1800 portrait of Lord Horatio Nelson by Sir William Beechey. Through this portrait, we’ll explore identity, self, expression and the notion of portraits through hands-on creative workshops. In session one, we’ll use portrait photography with projected drawings and messages, and in session two, hand-sewing and applique to create symbolic textile portraits.