The time/art/space continuum
Over nine fortnights from early march to late June, ANVAM has been running a series of visual art workshops at the new Soldier On HQ on Royal Parade in Melbourne. Happily, participants have been generous enough to leave many of their gorgeous artworks to brighten the fresh walls of the designated art room at Soldier On, showcasing the various themes and materials that have been employed, from landscape to doodle art and collage to photography to paint. Each session has had its own character and energy, shaped by the shared concentration of the dynamically changing group. Often, apart from gentle music, there is silence as people enter their own imaginations, but there is also periodic conversation, mostly about the artwork or observations arising from it and as often giving voice to a sense of commonality and identification as to surprise or curiosity. A sense of pleasure and achievement has been a tangible end-note to each session so far – we love to hear people say ‘I never knew I could..’ and then immediately begin to plan their next piece: it inspires us in our personal artwork and in our work at ANVAM: a big thankyou to all our participants so far.
