7 Apr 2021
My name is Jemma and I am a Curatorial Trainee for the National Gallery and Southampton City Art Gallery for 2019–21 as part of a scheme supported by Art Fund with the assistance of the Vivmar Foundation. Last week, it was wonderful to announce the exhibition ‘Creating a National Collection’ which is due to open … Continue reading
6 Apr 2021
Unless you are floating in space, our tactile sense is being constantly activated in life, as we are always in contact with something, whether walking, sitting, laying. We become so used to it, that it is easy to lose a subtler sensation of it, especially over everyday things we come in contact with. In this … Continue reading
30 Mar 2021
For this exercise we look at a portrait, to explore the influence of others on our mood and the perceptions we have about others. Our everyday interactions with people can be more stimulating than we might realise and the image of a person represented in artwork can have a similar effect. It could be a … Continue reading
23 Mar 2021
In this exercise we look at a piece of artwork whilst inducing a meditative state, to explore feeling, mood and tone within art, observing the effect it has on us. Feeling the Mood can be particularly useful for people who find themselves wrapped up in details, who feel disconnected to their emotions or who … Continue reading
16 Mar 2021
Welcome to the fourth episode of Mindful Moments, in this exercise we look at a piece of artwork and create a story from it, to explore the effect of imagination on our state of mind. The artwork that we are drawn to can tell us about our desires, whilst our imagination might unearth hidden thoughts … Continue reading
5 Mar 2021
This weeks Mindful Moment exercise is titled ‘Observant vs Immersive.’ In this exercise we look at the same artwork twice, from two opposing perspectives, to explore the differences in how we feel and what we experience depending on where we’re standing. This exercise is useful when looking to switch perspective to give us an indication of … Continue reading
28 Feb 2021
Mindfulness has a strong association with meditative benefits, however we can employ mindfulness in a host of situations beyond simply trying to feel happier and calmer. It can help us to understand feelings of anger, frustration, sadness, grief, resentment, envy, fear, anxiety, excitement and joy. Our second Mindfulness exercise, One Point of Focus, could be … Continue reading
21 Feb 2021
Every Monday, we will be publishing Mindful Moments, a selection of nine Mindfulness exercises for you to try out with artworks from the City’s collection, art at home, objects or even the view from your window. We hope they will give you some ideas to start with and later create your own practices from. General … Continue reading
2 May 2017
It is an amazing feeling for an artist to be surrounded by their work. When the hanging space is Southampton City Art Gallery then you are entitled to feel a little overwhelmed and I confess that I am, as I sit here in the middle of Gallery 5 writing this blog. I have been preparing … Continue reading