Will be sharing soon:
A short documentary about Michelle Knight - the healing power of Art'
Sometimes it feels like you just meet the right person at the right time. I had this feeling last year in South Africa, when I met Michelle at a yoga and art retreat she co-hosted. Something about her way of being and expressing herself stayed with me - there is a depth to her that reflects something I think I long for in myself. Maybe because I see someone living so closely to her potential, and I’m still on that path - hoping to one day experience that feeling for myself.
We got together, where I documented her art-making process and interviewed her about her journey. A journey I want to tell in the most authentic way, knowing there are endless ways to shape it - always caught between making it ‘right’ and just letting it be. And honestly, that part of the creative process is sometimes a struggle for me - finding the right headspace, clarity and patience to edit something so personal, letting go of all expectations of myself and of others. Here’s a first glimpse, and I can’t wait to share the final piece of this collaboration with you soon :)
"My passion has always been creating and safe and inspiring spaces in which the potential, the essence of the individual can flourish. I came across this approach to art-making called 'ASTAR', it stands for 'Awakening Spirit Through Art'. It was this language that I discovered, that makes a soul's longing to express itself. Being a deep-feeling person, finding a language beyond words through which I could express myself authentically."
Let loose the medicine in your hands
- Ian McCallum
"When children play, they're constantly taking risks. They are not worrying whether they're creating or whether not. It's this incredible creative act, and maybe there's something in that we forget, how sacred the act of playing is. That all we've got to do is pitch up and play."
"Whatever I'm experiencing in life, I can empty myself onto the canvas and then through this act, fill up, and find inspiration in the steps forward. I think everyone deserves a trusting relationship, everyone deserves to be able to have tools through which to process life."
Every child is an artist, the problem is
staying an artist when you grow up
- Pablo Picasso
"For me it's heartbreaking to hear adults say 'I'm not an artist, I can't create'. In our society we've boxed art-making and creativity in a tiny little restricted container. If we think of the origins of art-making -this is what makes me feel alive, this is what makes me feel so passionated about it- is that art-making was never made for the product. Our greatest muse is the inner child so it's encouraging people to be able to acces that freedom."
