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Join us for an open-ended, playful workshop led by Sarah Marsh, the artist behind acclaimed The Sensory Toolkit. It is suitable for children from 4-10 and their families/carers. We encourage families and carers to participate together.
Participants will:
- Fold, cut, and connect paper to create dragon-inspired sculptural forms.
- Play with colour and texture by adding fun, specially-selected materials to your artwork.
- Experiment with movement, light and shadow in our esea Studio.
In a specially constructed 'theatre wall,' wide tracing paper and translucent fabric will be suspended, allowing light to cast through and create a captivating space for families to experiment with shadow play. Children and their families can watch as their shadow puppets change in size, exploring the textural qualities of fabrics and trying out simple colour-mixing techniques.
This event is free, registration essential to avoid disappointment. Please book a place for all family/group members who will be in attendance.
Please consider making a donation for free events. esea contemporary is a registered charity and your support will contribute to our mission of creating a more equal, diverse, and inclusive environment for both local and global audiences.
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The Sensory Toolkit by Sarah Marsh is a developing collection of objects, ideas and environments that invite touch and interaction, and are thoughtfully designed and curated to be sensory-soothing. The sensory focus in this workshop is the feel of materials used, the way our paper sculptures move, and the shadows we can cast through light and colourful repurposed acetates. Find out more about Sarah and her work here.
This free workshop offers opportunities for all ages to participate, creating a fun and inclusive experience for families.
Please note that during this workshop, the studio will be dark or dimly-lit at times. Children must be supervised at all times and parents/carers are responsible for ensuring safe use of any equipment including scissors or cutting implements.
Sarah Marsh is a Manchester-based creative practitioner, artist, designer and consultant for play, with a passion for textiles, sculpture and hand-made processes. She has many years experience of creating award-winning, sensory-inspired and child-led environments for play and learning, in a variety of internationally renowned cultural settings across the UK and Europe. Sarah’s most recent commissions include; ’Sculpting Conversations’ at Whitechapel Gallery, London (Summer 2023) and ’North Light’ (Art in Manufacturing), The National Festival of Making, Blackburn (July 2023), as part of her HoLD collective. She is currently working on commissions with Tate Britain, Dulwich Picture Gallery, The Whitworth and York Art Gallery. Sarah is an artist whose practice is sensory-led; often working with neurodivergent communities and SEND audiences to create tactile and multi-sensory environments and objects, where design has evolved through observation and interaction. Sarah makes, to understand.
After leaving University of Salford, Sarah worked with the Chinese Arts Centre (2003) in various capacities, including technician, administrator, and freelance project coordinator. Sarah went on to travel extensively through China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, South Korea and Japan — an experience that has greatly impacted her creative practice. Her time in Shanghai, informed the look and feel of The Sensory Toolkit; dumpling-esque therapeutic holding objects; her use and passion of fabrics; and the shapes and forms found in architecture and nature all around her.