Margaret Walker is an artist based in the KCAT Studio in Callan, Co. Kilkenny (http://kcat.ie/studio/margaret-walker/).  Margaret visited the Model recently as part of her ongoing collaboration with Model studio artist Anna Spearman.  Margaret and Anna met in 2016 at an Open Day in KCAT as part of the Engagement project, a project initiated by Catherine Marshall, curator and art historian.  The Engagement project supports ongoing collaboration between KCAT studio artists and other professional artists working elsewhere.

During that first visit to KCAT Anna met Margaret and saw that although the Kilkenny artist was working on a series of paintings, she had ‘a huge stash of interesting materials tucked beneath her table and spilling out into the space,’ said Anna.  After some gentle prodding, Margaret showed her some of her textile pieces including “a really beautiful stitched portrait that was tucked away in a drawer”.  That discovery sparked a friendship between Anna and Margaret, who share a passion for materials and all things textile.

After  Anna’s first residency in KACT the two began a correspondence that involves them sending pieces of work back and forth to collaborate on.  Margaret’s recent visit to the Model’s residency studio was the third time that the two artists have come together to make work.  ‘We work until late every evening,’ said Margaret, during her stay. Throughout the residency, Anna and Margaret worked intensively, but also managed to see the sights of Sligo.  ‘It’s good to have time to work alongside each other,’ said Anna. When the residency drew to a close, Anna and Margaret had already begun plotting what the end result of their work together maybe. ‘We may combine the stuff we’ve been working on to create a large sculptural piece”  said Anna. When asked to describe the work that Anna and Margaret produced together, Margaret can sum it up in two words. “Deep play” said Margaret, “That’s me.”

Margaret and Anna are very grateful for the Model’s support of this visit.