Art and human connection
I love to meet, talk and connect with visitors when I am having an art exhibition. To be able to hear their thoughts and views but also see their responses to the exhibited artworks is very rewarding and exciting.
It is in these meetings between the artist and the viewer that very special things can happen. A human connection! That's the amazing thing about art.
Art is a kind of communication and I find it really interesting to hear how a viewer sees what I have created. Sometimes it can be the same thing I had in mind when I created the piece, sometimes it is completely different. It depends on many things. And that is ok.
But sometimes you get to experience a very special connection when a viewer is completely blown away by the work you have created or is so touched and moved by what they see they just can't let it go.
Sometimes they can identify themselves in a particular artwork or are just touched by the expression of the piece. I've been lucky enough to experience that with some lovely collectors and it is moments like these that make all the hard work of putting an art exhibition together totally worth it!
Since I'm often only present on the first and last day of an exhibition, I usually leave a guestbook and encourage the visitors to write a line, say hello or share a thought with me. It is the next best thing to not being there and a way to create human connections.
This last exhibition I had at Studio 457/Österängens Konsthall left me with some lovely comments from the visitors:
"Really like the deeply vulnerable - so tenderly and lovingly portrayed. /Anna"
"Thank you for this exhibition, and thank you for the transparency - that you are working from your own experiences./Evelina & Ola"
"Inspiring and moving".
"Incredible and cool! Inspirational!"/Jennie