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Bow Families: celebrating spring and making paper chromatography flowers with Alison Lam
Sunday 27th April 2025 , 11:00am to 1:00pm
Spring is just around the corner and flowers are starting to bloom! Have you been enjoying the sunny days? Join artist Alison Lam as we make paper chromatography flowers and explore different colours of spring. Open to children and families of all ages – all materials provided.
In paper chromatography, the water moves through the coffee filter, carrying the marker pigments and separating the different colour molecules in each marker. Some colour molecules are smaller than others, so they travel faster and farther through the coffee filter. Black felt tips are made by mixing several colours together! Each company uses a different set of pigments to create their black felt tips.
Compare different black felt tips with paper chromatography! Are the results the same? Scientists use chromatography to separate and look at different parts of a mixture. Chromatography can also be used by law enforcement in crime scene investigations, by art experts to determine original paint pigments in restoration projects, and even when analysing food!
In this workshop, children will learn about the possibilities of making paper chromatography flowers, exploring different colours and trying out a range of mark-making techniques!
This event is an inclusive, friendly environment which is accessible to all abilities and age groups.
Bow Families is a series of free, drop-in family art workshops that take place on the last Sunday of every month in the Bow Arts Courtyard Room. These sessions are a wonderful opportunity for local families to get creative and try something new! Each session is led by a Bow Arts’ Artist and all materials are provided.
More about Alison Lam
Alison Lam is a social practice, neurodivergent, interdisciplinary artist working with porcelain, metals, glass and paper. Through her socially engaged practice, she investigates themes of grief, discardment, and ostracisation using experimental, hands-on processes she describes as “drawing with her hands.” Alison’s art is deeply shaped by her experiences as a mother to two autistic sons with complex needs as she explores resilience, inclusion and the hidden beauty in overlooked details.
Alison lives and works in London. She has been an Artist in Residence at Lauderdale House and a Guest Lecturer at Brighton University, Middlesex University, and the MASS Sculpture Course.
Recent solo exhibitions include This is Where I Leave You at Studio KIND in 2024 and Conversation Starters: Suspended in Time at Espacio Gallery in 2023. She has also exhibited in group shows such as Fresh Air Sculpture in 2024, Ugly Duck in 2023 and October Gallery in 2022.
Alison has delivered workshops for institutions including the British Library and has been a speaker at events such as the Cultural Inclusion Manifesto Conference (2024), eseacontemporary Manchester, ArtCan and the Rights in Focus Conference. Her work has been supported by funding from Arts Council England’s DYCP programme and a National Lottery Project Grant.
Access information
The Bow Arts Trust courtyard room has step-free access throughout from street level, including to the accessible toilet, and is service animal friendly. This venue does not have a hearing loop system. Accessible parking is not available on-site but blue badge parking can be found 500m away on Fairfield Road.
If you have any questions regarding accessibility at this venue or event, would like to make us aware of any access requirements that you have in advance of visiting, or would like this information in an alternate format including Easy Read, please email nunnery@bowarts.com or call 020 8980 7774 (Ext. 3)
Access requirements could include things like providing equipment, services or support (e.g. information in Easy Read, speech to text software, additional 1:1 support), adjusting workshop timings (e.g. more break times), adjustments to the event space (e.g. making sure you have a table near the entrance) or anything else you can think of!
Transport information
Bow Arts Trust, 183 Bow Road, London, E3 2SJ
Nearest station(s): Bow Road (District and Hammersmith and City lines) is a 6-minute walk away, and Bow Church (DLR) is a 3-minute walk away.
Bus: 205, 25, 425, A8, D8, 108, 276, 488 and 8 all service the surrounding area.
Bike: Bicycle parking is located at Bow Church Station. The nearest Santander Cycles docking station is at Bow Church Station.
