Members of the Arts for Health artist team gathered together last week for a wonderful afternoon of mark-making, movement, and play!
Over the last couple of years visual artist Sharon dipity has been exploring mark-making and movement as part of an Arts for Health research project. Sharon explains, ‘The focus of my research is drawing and mark-making with hospital residents on the Arts for Health programme. I want to bring different types of movement into the drawing activity to create a broader range of movement and the marks made from this.’
Last year, Sharon spoke to Skibbereen Community Hospital’s Activity Coordinator Shirley McCarthy about the work, collaborating with dance artist Helga Deasy, and how the research can be brought into the hospital setting. Read the interview in full here.
Sharon’s work later developed to include musician and composer Justin Grounds. Landscapes of the Imagination was a cross-disciplinary collaboration where the three artists sought to explore expressive qualities arising from the imagination through music, movement and mark-making.
Research Sharing
Last week, Sharon shared her learning with the Arts for Health artist team through a practical afternoon workshop. Over the course of an hour, Sharon led the group through a series of creative practices exploring mark-making and movement. The exercises encouraged participants to let go of pre-conceived ideas of artistic ability, and instead focus on the movements of their body. The marks made came from the movement, rather than the other way around. Following Sharon’s direction, the artist team experimented with holding the pencil a different way and drawing a line based on breath, taking themselves out of their head and into their body.
Later, the group explored movement with Sharon’s handmade drawing tools. Made from natural materials like feathers and willow, the tools offered opportunities for larger movement. Their flexible and unpredictable nature allowed participants to focus on the process, creating through movement. Moving and responding to music, the team created a collaborative ink painting.
Sharon’s sharing presented her research in a practical and informative way, offering artists on the team a chance to learn more about her work, try something new, and consider new approaches in their own practice.
A big thank you to Sharon for a wonderful afternoon!