Pamela See
- 26 Oct 2015
What
In 2015, Pamela See delivered an ambitious papercut and animation project, The Float, involving over 100 young people in eight cities across four countries.
Pamela’s project involved two specific school based exchanges:
- The Western Academy of Beijing and two Queensland schools: Riverview State School and Kelvin Grove State College
- CATS Academy Boston and Redcliffe State High School
Other organisations participating in the program included: Brooklyn Children’s Museum, North Vancouver City Library and the Children’s Art Studio in Toronto.
Through workshops, Pamela introduced participants (both children and teenagers) to traditional Chinese art techniques including woodblock printing, calligraphy and paper cutting.
The ten workshops culminated in over 400 papercut artworks and an animation that describes the journey of a rubber ducky as it floats through the ocean. This narrative was inspired by the research of oceanographer Curtis Ebbesmeyer.
The works were exhibited at Pine Rivers Art Gallery in Queensland. Smaller satellite displays were also held by: Brooklyn Children’s Museum, CATS Academy Boston, Western Academy of Beijing and Kelvin Grove State College.
When
January to July 2015
Where
South East Queensland; Beijing, China; Boston, United States
Arts Queensland contribution
$5000 – Individuals Fund
Outcomes
- Pamela developed and diversified her skills particularly with regard to digital imaging and animation, and coordinating and implementing workshops in multiple locations.
- The project marked the first time Pamela had personally been involved in converting images into animation. The large number of individual cutouts produced during the project meant Pamela was able to develop and test a model for collecting information and images from a large number of participants at multiple locations.
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Through the project, Pamela has consolidated existing relationships in Beijing and Boston and developed new ones in New York, Toronto and Vancouver.
Learnings and reflections
Pamela had the following reflections and advice for others:
I think that being organised and presenting your project well is important. I was surprised at how effective having a strong proposal and a website assisted me in partnering large organisations in different countries.
Working with the Brooklyn Children’s Museum and the Children’s Art Studio enhanced my ability to engage children, as both organisations had very good art workshop facilitators. The Head of Education at the Brooklyn Children’s Museum, in particular, invested a couple of days to prepare me for working with their children and provided critical feedback.
Contact for further information
Email: info@pamseearchive.net
Website: www.pamseearchive.net
Links: Exhibition: The Float
A printable version of the case study (PDF) (412.6 KB) is also available.
Feature image: Animation still from The Float featuring artwork by the students. Image courtesy Pamela See