The ART AGAINST DOMESTIC VIOLENCE exhibition is dedicated to the White Ribbon campaign and 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Based Violence.
This exhibition features an assortment of artistic creations completed by local women who attended Art for Wellbeing sessions delivered by Anna Virabyan from Intuit Art at the Sutton Women’s Centre, during the past 18 months.
Throughout the past eighteen months Anna Virabyan from Intuit Art, in collaboration with Sutton Women’s Centre and Sutton College, has led regular online Art for Wellbeing sessions, to help local women experience how art can be used to help with the emotional and mental anxieties fuelled by the recent pandemic and associated lockdowns. Anna has been running three classes each week, to provide a much needed way in which women could stay motivated, feel part of a community and explore their artistic skills to express themselves and their feelings, while learning an assortment of processes. This results in creating beautiful and personal pieces of art to reflect upon and be proud of. Classes focused on various methods of art including portrait, still life, composition and experimented with various mediums, as well as providing an essential opportunity for students to interact, bond and form friendships with other women on the course where art classes were effectively being used as a method of relaxation and companionship.
The Art Exhibition, funded by Arts Network Sutton, gives women an opportunity to present their art works to a wider audience, to describe their creativity, and to inspire other people who have no previous experience in art to get involve in artistic activities.
Tutor, Anna Virabyan, said: “Women I have worked with during the past eighteen months have displayed a dramatic change in their artistic styles, from starting with dark colours and simple child-like drawings and no words to express how they were feeling… to a growth in confidence and use of many different and vibrant colours to express their emotions. This helped them to formulate their feelings verbally and by using creativity students practiced visual communication and effective interaction with others, reducing feelings of isolation and enhancing feelings of belonging and being supported. These online classes showed how free and creative students could feel by simply relaxing and getting in touch with their true selves. I believe their wellbeing and positivity have improved massively over the course of these sessions and their amazing art works speak loudly, with each individual’s personal voice and style, and represent a myriad of emotions to help participants express their feelings and state of mind.”
Art Against Domestic Violence is free to attend and runs from 11th November 2021 to 11th December 2021 at Honeywood Museum. Visit the Museum’s Eventbrite page to find out more.