Art and Mindfulness Mixed Media Workshop (this workshop can be tailored for caregivers and healthcare workers)

 

 

 

Art begins with noticing where you are and possibly recognizing your emotions and thoughts, and reflecting on how to express them. Body awareness and noticing the sounds in the room are excellent anchors for being present. Mindfulness practices and Art are useful tools for helping us identify and manage feelings and reactions to new situations.

Exercise in Observation and Responding through Art Making.

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Spend some time looking at Yayoi Kusama’s painting while also focusing on yourself. Enter the artwork as if a door was open. What are you noticing in your body? What are you thinking about? How are you feeling?

When you have been “inside” long enough, select a color or shape in the picture that expresses a feeling for you. What is the emotion it expresses? What is it about that color or shape that best expresses this feeling?

Grab a pen or pencil and paper. Start drawing two of the shapes you see in Kusama’s painting. Draw them over and over again, repeating and overlapping. Tune into what you are feeling. What does this process contribute to how you feel? How might doing something differently change the way you feel? On another paper, choose an object or shape in the room and draw it over and over again on one page. Overlap shapes. Notice what is happening with the drawing and how you feel.

When you feel like you are finished drawing, take some time to understand the importance of artmaking to Yayoi Kusama (talk about her work), who says art has always been her way to express and manage her feelings. For her, the endless repetition of forms helps to silence the noise in her head.

Without too much thought, cut and tear up your drawings into pieces for use as collage elements. We will use painting, drawing and collage to make a completed artwork.

Title your finished work.