Inspirative Arts staff continually seek to nurture our own creativity, so that we can also nurture creativity in others. In this post art group facilitator Philippa shares how a recent trip to Tate Modern has inspired her work.

I saw Artur Zmijewski’s installation “Blindly” (2010) at Tate Modern last week and found it so moving. Zmijewski is a visual artist and narrative film-maker, who often uses his work to explore personal and societal responses to trauma. Many of his works directly address the challenges faced by people living with disabilities. In “Blindly” he captures energy and process whilst documenting scenes from a painting workshop with visually impaired participants. Zmijewski asks what it means to imagine and represent without relying on the sense of sight.

I was totally inspired by Zmijewski’s film. I loved seeing the way the artists engaged with paint in a tactile way, sometimes using their whole bodies to gauge space and the relationships between the objects they were depicting; making the mark of themselves in their work.

I could really relate to some of the struggles people felt trying to get the images in their heads onto their paper - that’s something I struggle with when I paint too. I also loved seeing the freedom of expression artists had when liberated from the burden of considering what their paintings looked like to an external observer. People were utterly absorbed in their work, exploring their memories and imagination as they moved the paint around the paper.

That’s why I love what we do with creative expressive art - not having to focus on the finished product is really freeing. Our art is all about expressing and experiencing; really noticing the impact we can have on, and with, the materials we use - and the impacts the process has on us.

Everyone deserves a chance to make their mark on the world, but so many of us hold back for fear our mark might not be good enough. I would urge everyone out there to pick up some paint and do your thing with it! Go on!!! You don’t ever have to show what you make to another soul if you don’t want to - just focus on the process and enjoy the experience.

I’d also encourage you to go and explore a gallery - particularly one that exhibits ‘unusual’ art. Letting go of preconceived ideas of how something should look or be, and using your imagination and empathy to engage with someone else’s idea or image can be a really interesting experience. I realise we do that a lot at Inspirative Arts, and I find it never ceases to inspire me.

http://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-modern/display/artur-zmijewski

Philippa