Kate Tume
Sensitivity, 2022
Textile sculpture (mask)
40 x 30cm
Chosen by Isabel Seligman, British Museum Curator of Modern & Contemporary Drawings
What was the dream experience that inspired your piece?
So in the dream that I had that inspired my piece, I had turned into a red bat. And in the dream, I was struggling to fly. And then I finally was able to believe that I could fly. And then I flew to a sort of magical gathering of birds. And a bullfinch next to me told me, you can hear everything. And I had this dream in a period of time in my life when I had just been bereaved. My husband died in 2021, and so this dream became the basis of my mask, which represents the feeling of that time of everything being overwhelming, in a senses way. So, hearing, seeing, feeling... everything felt very big.
Dreams and the unconscious are at the heart of this art competition. How does that territory relate to your practice?
So in terms of my art practice more broadly, the unconscious plays a really central role. My current body of work, more so than ever. I start the process of making my pieces using automatic techniques, primarily stillomancy and decalcomania, as a way of collaborating with unseen forces and capturing the unconscious, by using less than gestural, automatic, instantaneous mark-making, using alcohol inks or watercolour. And then I use those images to create very, very large scale embroideries.
What drew you to enter an art competition at The College of Psychic Studies?
I entered into the art competition with the College of Psychic Studies this year partly because I really admire the work that they do, but honestly because of the connection they have with Ithell Colquhoun is probably my greatest artistic inspiration. And I consider her work a direct ancestor to the work that I'm doing now. And so that very much put the College on my radar as an artist. And very much the work that it's done and historical place that it's had with the unseen and the unconscious is very central to my practice and my work now.
How would you describe your creative process?
So in the past, my creative process has been probably more traditional in the sense that I'd have an idea, then plan it in terms of what materials I was going to use. I work in textiles. I use a lot of colour, texture, embellishment. So there would be a design process and then that would really be a process of making. I've very much moved towards a more traditionally surrealist practice approach which starts with more of a collaboration with the unseen, using automatic techniques, mark-making, painting. Which then gets translated into a very sort of meticulous, controlled period of making.
Where do you find your creative nourishment?
I find my creative nourishment in a variety of places. I'm very lucky to live right on the sea. So my works are very concerned with liminal places. So I'm very interested in the between in the in between. And so low tide for me is very interesting and always feels like a place in which to meet the kind of numinous, unseen, alien. So find that very helpful for me if I'm blocked. Um, in terms of artists, Ithell Colquhoun, as l've mentioned, is probably my, my biggest inspiration and certainly my, my closest ally with my current work. I'm also a big fan of Grayson Perry and the way that he's elevated craft. I very much come from handmade traditions. And so l appreciate his social commentary. And then just more generally I'm very inspired by mythology and general history, folklore, and anything where there's a ritual. So at the moment, I'm researching a lot around death rituals internationally. How people have dealt with death, dying and grieving in a ritualised way.
What are you working on next, and where can we follow your journey?
I'm currently working on a body of work I've been working on for about a year in which I use the automatic techniques to create paintings, which I then translate in cross stitch onto large pieces of linen. And it's sort of a development of a project where I'm very interested in magical objects, specifically pertaining to magical objects that we may use around death and grief rituals. So in terms of creating some sacred textiles that are potentially shrouds, you can follow me primarily on Patreon, which is where I'm the most active and share my studio practice. Also on Instagram and you'll find me at Mother Eagle Arts.
See all the results of The College of Psychic Studies 2025 annual art competition here.
The competition is open to all and free to enter.
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