Visit a studio of Jenny in cockpit arts

I separated the interview with Jenny into two parts. The one is an exhibition in the TRUMAN about 20min. The other part is on the cockpit arts opening day about 15min.

I was very interested in her fabric . It is hard to imagine this soft material comes from cork .I compared the same material with other product designers in different exhibitions and art fairs. But , so far, no one could better than Jenny’s. Jenny told me , the key is that she cuts the cork very very thin as her frabic material.And the back of the material is made of crossing weaving by cotton.So that it makes sure the fabric will keep soft and tough.Before this, I guess Jenny’s major is a professional fabric design or product design, thus she loves to use cork as a material to produce fabrics and home accessories. In fact, her major is interior design during her college. Her study area is about the natural value, especially the recycled materials. In one practice , she tried to do some changes with cork products . During researches, she wanted to change the characteristic of cork and to reorganize its structure. For example " to slice the cork ." She could not image the effect will be so softer than she expected. Different thickness, the delicated sense will be different. Of course, this is not easy to successful at one time. because to judge the thickness of slice is critical. It has to through multiple testing.

As I mentioned before, I met Jenny many times . The most recently is in the cockpit arts studios open day. The studio space is very limited, but the atmosphere is great. Generally per studio divided into 4-6 people to share. Because the independent studios are expensive and difficult to apply . Jenny said they enjoyed staying at shared studio. Because the organization will consider the art area when the artist and designer apply this space , thus, there are fabric designers or home acessory designers in Jenny‘s studio. It is very helpful to communicate and exchange experience to stay at the same space.

Jenny stayed in cockpit arts studio has been more than two years . Except the twice-yearly studio open day , she is also actively involved in a number of exhibitions so that I could meet her in many different exhibition and art fairs. One reason is that she wants to gain more experience , another important reason is that , Jenny needs to promote her products through the exhibitions . Because the advantage of her fabrics is very comfortable. The clients could not appreciate this fabric only through online sales. This is made her a little bit annoyance . I think that is a common problem in many designers and artists so far.

Oscar's comment:

Because I mentioned I met Jenny in many exhibitons, Oscar thinks I shoud ask her about the cost of per area in different exhibiton. And I also need to know how long does she get the money back and how does she contacts the exhibition organization.