Handmade Paper and Pulp Painting with Dr Kat Cope

Name: Handmade Paper and Pulp Painting with Dr Kat Cope
Start: 2026-09-26T11:30:00+01:00
Location: Mermaid Arts Centre

What to expect

Pulp painting is a fun and exciting way to interact with papermaking. Pulp painting uses finely blended fibres which can be introduced to a large syringe to create designs and shapes using pulp to create the image. Pulp painting has a wide application of uses from more traditional works painted with pigmented pulps directly on wet sheets of paper, to freeform creations that are not confined to the page. This workshop is open to all levels of artists, and does not require previous papermaking experience. The workshop will teach artists how to process recycled fibres, and create pulp paintings.

Dr Kat Cope
Dr Kat Cope is a late diagnosed Autistic mixed-media artist and researcher from the United States who lives full-time in Ireland. They hold a B.A. from Mount Holyoke College (2005), an MFA from the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth (2009), and a PhD from Burren College of Art and University of Galway (2025). Dr Cope explores the creation of paper costume, performance, and the embodiment of metaphorical armour as a means to process and transform unresolved complex trauma associated with lived experience, for neurodivergent persons. Utilising their personal experience as a late-diagnosed Autistic individual, they investigate how trauma alters one’s existence, mental health, and physical well-being. Through performance methodologies such as costume, breathing, and movement they hypothesize that trauma survivors can retrain their nervous systems to mitigate the perception of danger in non-threatening situations. The impact of complex trauma on mental health is elucidated through their research, revealing its capacity to induce feelings of worthlessness, shame, and emotional dysregulation, alongside physical manifestations that may predispose individuals to various health issues. Dr Cope employs performance as a vital tool for self-actualisation, utilising practices such as mindfulness meditation, grounding, and movement exercises to facilitate transformation. Transformation in this context translates to benefits through audience participation either large or small. Some benefits Dr Cope has experienced and which have been recorded by others are individual empowerment and reduced anxiety. Ultimately, their research contributes to the understanding of trauma through embodied practices, highlighting the potential for creative expression to foster resilience and recovery for neurodivergent persons.