In November 2025, I worked with Lower Sixth Form Art pupils at Bradfield College. During the first term of their A levels, the students are testing a variety of techniques. The purpose of this workshop was to encourage the pupils to think in abstract ways through making.
The pupils brought with them images of places and spaces that are inspirational to them. These ranged from a busy street in Tokyo to a garden shed, a roof niche behind a bedroom wardrobe, and many others. The workshop brief was to translate these personal spatial inspirations into abstract models.
The pupils worked with a diverse palette of materials including different coloured cable ties, metal, treated and untreated wood, fabrics, and wadding. Through intuitive experimentation with these materials, the pupils explored how the essence of their chosen spaces – whether the density of urban Tokyo or the intimate enclosure of a hidden wardrobe niche – could be captured through abstract form, texture, and composition.
The resulting models demonstrated varied approaches to abstraction, with each piece reflecting the unique character of its inspirational source whilst allowing the materials themselves to suggest new interpretations and possibilities. At the end of the workshop the pupils presented their models to each other in small groups.
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