Projects & Process
Our process is to develop ideas and artworks with others, through playful material and dialogic exchange. Since our collaboration began, we have primarily worked with women, who have come together to find support and ways to move on from their varied and difficult circumstances. This has included members of Joining Hands Joining Hearts, a small charity in Kent for survivors of domestic abuse and sexual violence and women from the peer-to-peer support groups at Brighton Women's Centre.
Recent feedback comments:
"“shift has totally rebooted my outlook on life”
“taking instructions is difficult for me, with my autism. But here not getting it right doesn’t matter”
“I have become more aware of myself. More open to change within myself, in a more constructive way”
“My brain is waking up and I feel so alive”
“This project is safe to feel and think about your feelings”
"I’ve been stimulated being around other women and being introduced to new ideas. It did shift something in me, I suddenly got ideas. Before I had felt so confined, I went very introverted, I couldn’t find that oomph to be creative”
We also work with organisations and other artists and researchers, offering workshops and talks to expand the conversation about how creative approaches can support recovery from trauma.
SHIFT
2022 - 2023
Cole & Joslin received an Arts Council England National Lottery Project Grant in 2022 to develop new research & development work in partnership with Brighton Women's Centre, Phoenix Arts Space and FuseBox, Wired Sussex. This project also involved a collaboration with Acting Our Age, Flexer & Sandliland's intergenerational movement group and mentoring with film-maker Andrew Kotting, supported by an A-N Artist's Bursary.
Image by Alyce
Messy Business
2017 - 2018
Commissioned by People United and Joining Hands Joining Hearts, this year-long project involved weekly sessions where we worked with a group of women at their safe house in Kent. The aim of the project was to create a digital outcome that could be both as an artwork and as a resource to generate awareness around the complexities of domestic abuse and coercive control. Conversations have continued with some of these women, leading to new video works.


Collage Conversations with Brighton Women's Centre staff
Cole & Joslin delivered a workshop for BWC's staff team at their annual WellBeing Day, March 2022.