Guest House: Sewing a Palm Tree Workshop

A space for slowness, elsewhere, and collective making.

All are invited into the Guest House, a shared, temporary workspace formed through collective contribution and the relaxed palava of conversation. You don’t need to sew a palm tree if you don’t want to! Participants are invited to sit together, sew by hand, talk, listen, share stories, or simply observe. Some may choose to sew palm trees, while others may work on repairs, small tests, or nothing at all. Conversation, silence, and informal knowledge-sharing are all part of the process, as the work develops slowly and collectively over the session. The workshop is led by artist Elle Reynolds, whose practice works through collaborative processes, storytelling, and material experimentation. Her work explores making as a way of thinking together, with a particular interest in shared authorship, provisional forms, and the social life of materials. Participants will experience sewing as a social and conversational practice, build confidence working with their hands in a low-pressure environment, and contribute to a shared, provisional body of work. The session offers space to reflect on ideas of elsewhere, slowness, care, and collective making, rather than producing a defined outcome. The Guest House takes place within IMT Gallery’s group exhibition, The House , featuring works that all, often through degrees of autobiography, speaks to some of the discordances of being at home: perhaps the anticipation of order amidst the everyday; or an expectation of comfort, often amidst insecurity or tension. The exhibition includes Elle Reynolds’ film Morass and sculptural sound piece Black Sun Loungers: The Caribbean Gaze. About Elle Reynolds: Artist/scholarresearcherquiet disrupter, Elle Reynolds has a background in organising practice. She continually challenges traditional institutional structures, reimagining the use of time and space. Her art making under the pseudonym Guest-Host-Guest includes object installation, collaborative events, performative storytelling and interventions that unsettle the notion of archive through spatial exploration, participation, and the disruption of academic language. She holds a PhD investigating alternative art school spaces and serves as a Non-Executive Director and Board member of TOMA (The Other MA), an alternative art school in Southend-on-Sea, Essex. Recent projects include workshops for New Contemporaries and Creative Break Time. She is currently Programme Leader of the Graduate Diploma in Art at Goldsmiths. All materials including fabric, threads, embroidery rings and needles will be provided, and herbal tea served. No experience is necessary, just bring your curiosity, a willingness to get hands-on, and an open mind. To keep this workshop intimate, spaces are limited; reserve your spot now for an evening of creativity, conversation, and connection.

What to expect:
Painting, Crafts, Multi-disciplinary, Audio / Sound, Film / Video