Strip everything back to the very essence of a concept. Telling a story.
Whether it’s sharing a political viewpoint, evoking an important cause or creating a fantasy world, every piece of artwork has layers of story telling.
Often without a word count, the depth of these narrative layers are what create that third dimension. But what makes it even more incredible is the combination of minds. When the viewer becomes the narrator, their interpretation is on face, influenced by what the artist has to say about the piece, but much more than that is the addition of their own layers – their life experiences, their journey.
When forming Nua Collective, I was conscious not to feature artist’s biographies as a litany of credits and artist statements that are often inaccessible and incomprehensible. I wanted to ensure that our audience would want to read each of our artist’s profiles and while doing so, not only learning about the artists but connecting with their journey.
Experiencing a gallery space engages all the senses. The atmosphere is alive. This is a major disconnect when experiencing something within the confines of a screen (and they’re only getting smaller!). Giving artists the opportunity to tell their stories, provides the viewer with visual, sensual hooks. When we start to visualise the scenes they describe, we create images in our mind and then subconsciously add this layer of insight when exploring the artist’s artwork.
Keep it simple. Keep it accessible. We want to engage the audiences who adorn the art galleries, but more importantly we want to expand beyond this circle; to break down what can often be perceived as pretentious and exclusive; to open the gallery gates to the wider world.
We want to share the significant voices of our world’s most intuitive, the observers, the artists, the storytellers.
