WORKSHOP: Experiential image-making - locating meaning through collage

Conscious experience is our primary way of building knowledge. Our five senses, combined with our sense of ‘beingness’ in the world, are the way that we dialogue with and make meaning from a chaotic field of movement and action. In the philosophy of Phenomenology, or the study of how we experience phenomena, practices can be applied to our conscious experiencing in order to gain insights into deeper meanings about ourselves or the world than we normally allow ourselves to see. In this workshop, participants will be guided through an introductory set of exercises to hone in on their conscious experiencing of the site and their bodies. Materials will be provided for participants to create representations of specific aspects of their experience, followed by a set of exercises that allow participants to dialogue with, or gain deeper insight into the image they have made. As a final exercise, participants will be invited to create a collage that symbolises the meaning they are arriving to from the image. This workshop is a small example of the Form of Inquiry method, as devised by the Melbourne Institute of Experiential and Creative Art Therapy, Australia.

About the artist:

Nithya Iyer is an interdisciplinary artist and researcher. Trained for 15 years in the dance form of Bharatanatyam, the capacity of the moving body to access and produce knowledges and territories is a focus of her inquiry. She has performed in solo, ensemble and collaborative works and since arriving in Portugal in 2020, has expanded her practice into visual art mediums. Having completed a Masters in Therapeutic Arts Practice in 2020, the philosophy of Phenomenology – or the role of conscious phenomena as epistemology – has been central to her research methodology. Nithya Iyer is a co-founder of The Third Thing – an arts-based research collaboration on bodily interventions in architectural sites. Nithya was raised in Melbourne, Australia and is of South Indian Tamil descent. She now resides in Lisbon, Portugal.

Collage Working Club (CWC) is a weekly open workspace for artists working in the medium of paper. Organised in the format of alternate ‘drop in’ sessions and workshops masterclasses, it has both a regular facilitator, whilst also involving the artist community in the sharing of knowledge and skills. Providing materials, education and connections is the primary aim of CWC, and it will do this through the interdisciplinary art of collage as both an art form and a tool for personal growth.

O Collage Working Club (CWC) é um espaço de trabalho semanal aberto a artistas que trabalham com o suporte papel. Organizado no formato de sessões alternadas e masterclasses, tem um facilitador regular, ao mesmo tempo que envolve a comunidade de artistas na partilha de conhecimentos e competências.
Fornecer materiais, educação e ligações é o principal objetivo do CWC, e fá-lo-á através da interdisciplinaridade da colagem como uma forma de arte e uma ferramenta para o crescimento pessoal.

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