COMMUNITY ART
My love for people and the joy it gives me by being able to connect to others and bring them together as well as the pull to be part of a community, has led me to collaborate in different settings with some wonderful people.
I strongly believe art has the power to bring people together. Art breaks the barriers of language, culture, race, class amongst other things and universally has the power to educate people and start conversations about important things.
From my time at university where I started The Wish Project – I encouraged the public to make and write down a wish for another person they know, thus creating an eternal cycle of wishes. I then crafted the wishes into paper windmills and created an art installation with them for public display. They were modelled on the concept of Tibetan Prayer Flags which flutter in the wind in people’s gardens, rooftops, temples, stupas and the highest mountain passes in the world with the belief that the prayers get recited and blown to the gods. The end result was a field of windmills turning around in unison and this is a project I will revisit and recreate through my life.
Since then, I have created a 5ft x 6ft bird with my Art Club to be part of a community colour festival in my local town, facilitating the painting and recreating of the same town with milk cartons during our annual community street party. I have also collaborated and facilitated the community painting of an important local roundabout in 2019 which was a big hit and an exhilarating experience to connect with the community and have so many people contribute and participate.
The most recent has been the creation of an art installation made from single use plastic – again involving children and adults in the community to campaign and raise awareness about plastic pollution and our personal responsibility from saving our earth from destruction.
And of course the all-important “thank you rainbow” for our brave key-workers during this very difficult time.
Gallery
