Kimberley Cookey-Gam

Please tell us a bit about yourself.

My name is Kimberley Cookey-Gam, and I'm 28 years old. I am British-Nigerian, so I was born in the UK, in London specifically, but I frequently visited my family in Nigeria as a child, going back and forth. I'd stay for up to two months at a time. I come from the Igbo tribe which is located in the Southern Region. I studied sculpture for my BA at Brighton, then completed half of an MA at the Royal College of Art in London. Currently, I live in London and have my studio based in Holborn with Cockpit Arts.

I am navigating the process of bringing to life my creative platform ‘crochetcookey’ which creates and nurtures tender connections between garments, art and people.

What was your early motivation to express your creativity through crochet?

I discovered crochet when I began my Foundation course at Camberwell (UAL). It started out in quite a superficial form but my attachment to it has blossomed and developed in a powerful, poignant and significant way. I wanted a bikini first so I attempted to knit one. That method didn’t really stick. Then on YouTube I found crochet and was so intrigued. I had a hook in my house and one ball of yarn at that time and I just made a small square over and over, unravelling and redoing it in different stitches to learn and since then it stuck with me.

I enjoyed how comforting it was. Thinking back to certain moments during my degree - the time that I really felt that I needed to combine crochet with sculpture was when I had an episode of psychosis when I was in my mid 20s. I have become more comfortable with talking about that form of mental illness now as it's been a long and fruitful process of healing. I have experienced it twice and I think it’s another conversation around the familiar topics of anxiety and depression that needs to be expressed. In order to make sense of that experience and to creatively journal about it - I made a piece that included crochet. It was a young artwork, quite amateurish, quite cartoonish, but that was when I came to the realisation that crochet was something that I could simultaneously use as a form of expression and healing. And it has evolved so much over the years.

Can you take us through your process? Do you have a favourite part of the creation process?

Now I am at a point where my creative process has changed overtime so I have been asked a few times what my inspiration is, and that question doesn't always make me feel good because I didn’t always know how to concisely answer it. There's not one definitive source of inspiration and sometimes you just want to make something without knowing exactly where that inspiration comes from. Sometimes you want to make something based on how you feel and you need the space to pick a colour and material etc. And afterwards, you spend time trying to figure out what your psyche or subconscious or soul is trying to communicate from that piece and tweaking it as you go.

Right now, my creative process with freeform crochet is split into different sections. So if I am working on a garment, then I cut out a pattern and then I crochet that form or shape because the freeform crochet doesn't use a written pattern. So in order for me to make a replica, I would need a template or a cut out shape. Same goes for if I am making homeware and at times my sculptural pieces.

Another process would be waiting for a broken piece of something to find its way to me or vice versa and following the broken form and crocheting around that shape. It just depends on what I am focusing on. Currently, its garments and facilitating workshops. My favourite part of the creation process would be nearing the end. Just the moment of realising that something that I had in my mind is coming to life. Kind of a runner's high but a creative one. And another would be seeing all the fragmented pieces of information that had been collected over the process of making and it finally making sense.

How didHow do you feel about working with your hands? Can you tell us more about the impact that it has on your happiness and well-being? Studio Beurre come about?

Thinking back to the 2nd question, I mentioned how I discovered crochet as a form of healing in sculpture - it makes me feel very grounded and intune with my ancestry. I have been reading a book about Igbo philosophy and it mentions that the tribe I am from was known for using their hands and they developed pottery, weaving and craftsmanship to a very high level before colonialism. I feel very tapped into something that is almost bigger than me. This knowledge makes my textile work feel even more rooted and connected. I am excited to delve into other crafts. Especially clay.

How has your academic background in sculpture shaped your approach to crochet?

My academic background has played a significant role in how I approach yarn, crocheting, and the concept of softness. It's allowed me to use crochet not just as a practical skill but also as a conceptual form. My dissertation focused on themes of anxiety, and I've explored various concepts, including connection, repetition, space, and culture through crochet. Furthermore, my academic journey has helped me recognize crochet as a healing format, beyond its conceptual aspects. It's a multifaceted craft that can serve both artistic and therapeutic purposes.

You mentioned on your website that “Crochetcookey is an art project that exists to address the balance between independent creativity and a desire for connection.” Could you share your thoughts on that?

I am still piecing together how I want crochetcookey to exist, but what I have come to realise is that I wanted to create something outside of myself and my name. And create a platform that allows me to foster connection whilst also navigating my art practice. Essentially collaborating with people and using my skills within my art and crochet.

Especially with sculpting and many art forms, when you are not in a university or an academic environment, it's very independent and solo. You go to the studio, especially if it's not shared - or even if it is shared people might not be there everyday - and you are working on your ideas on your own. So there comes a point where you do want a connection with someone else, or you want to hear a different thought around you work, or you need a break from your repetitive thoughts. Hence me trying to create that and encompass making garments to be able to work with a range of creatives and push ideas further and essentially combine art, garments and working with people. So right now I am focusing on workshops and developing those as a form of connecting with people.

We know that you are involved in different collaborative projects. Can you share more about your experience of building mutually supportive relationships within your community?

I think that is something I am still learning how to do in a genuine way. I used to be scared of the term networking but now I think it's scary when you only network to take something from someone and not to simply connect with others. It looks like not rushing the trajectory of a relationship and checking in on others.

Now that I have settled and feel more at home in my studio space, I can invite people to come for studio visits or to come and co-work or share tea and really attempt to connect with others in a place where I feel super comfortable and I can extend that comfort to others.

Do you believe that crafts can lead to social change, particularly concerning sustainability and ecological behaviours?

I believe that crafts, like crochet, have the power to foster sustainability awareness. When people come together in craft groups, whether knitting, crocheting, or other creative activities, they experience a sense of community through the slower, more intentional way of being and creating.

There’s something very magical in many of the spaces that I have been where group crafts or crochet is taking place - when people crochet or knit or do something craft based together and in harmony. I think that energy can transmute into people really considering and pausing around their decisions within sustainability and in their ecological behaviours. I think being able to be slow in a group and seeing that reflected around you, it becomes easier to take that step away from the group because you've experienced that safety net, and apply that to other environments. Whether it's being conscious about the clothing that you buy because you've realised how long it takes to make something through attending a workshop. Or being a bit more particular about materials for example, through the process of learning to spin yarn, you become more intentional about where to buy yarns. I do believe craft can lead to social change. Because it can be such a warm, nourishing and loving environment to exist within.

What upcoming projects make you excited right now?

I am working on a new collar/cape whilst reading a lot about my igbo culture and allowing that information to gradually influence my work. And I am developing a new crochet workshop that will be more spiritually inclined, which is very exciting.

Where and how can people engage more with your work?

There are a few ways: My website ~ www.crochetcookey.com My instagram ~ @crochetcookey My newsletter ~ crochetcookeynewsletter and my Cockpit Arts profile ~ www.cockpitstudios.org/makers/kimberley-cookey-gam
All images belong to Kimberley, with some by Sui-Sien as stated underneath each image.