Studio Apprenticeship with Mark Mitchell (2015)
Mentor: Mark Mitchell
Studio Assistant & Creative Contributor: Danielle Blackwell
In the summer of 2015, I undertook an immersive apprenticeship with Seattle-based artist and designer Mark Mitchell, best known for his highly conceptual and emotionally resonant work Burial — a hand-sewn series of mourning garments first exhibited at the Frye Art Museum in 2013. Mark’s practice is rooted in meticulous craft, historical reference, and a deep engagement with themes of mortality, ritual, identity, and queer embodiment.
Within his studio, I had the opportunity to contribute to a range of projects that expanded my technical and conceptual vocabulary. These included performance and costume work for Cherdonna Shinatra, Shabazz Palaces, and the Intiman Theatre production of Angels in America, as well as assisting with personal works in development. My contributions spanned fine hand-stitching, sculptural garment construction, and body-based macramé techniques — including a piece featured in Cherdonna’s show Worth My Salt.
Working alongside Mark offered me an invaluable education in process-driven creation. His studio was not only a space for making, but for thinking with one’s hands — for honoring the act of labor as a form of care and resistance. His mentorship continues to shape my own devotion to material integrity, emotional resonance, and the slow, sacred work of building meaning through form.