Supporting students to build confidence and strengthen communication with others is a key part of the experience at EMA, and student Sophie has worked hard recently to develop these skills. Today, she held an exhibition of her personal art pieces as a way to step out of her comfort zone and share her passions with students and staff at college.
Sophie set up an entire room with different pieces she has produced, and talked visitors through her work and her thought process behind the different styles, textures, and ideas – with everything from textiles, collages, drawings, paintings, and painted models. Some were finished, some were works in progress – the room showcased a diverse mix of styles and feelings, and she was happily able to chat with people about everything on display.
“When I was at school I never felt like I was any good, and that my drawing was rubbish, but as time has gone on I’ve tried to dedicate more of my free time to practising my techniques and trying different styles. I’ve always been so nervous about what people might think, and even when they say something is good I have a hard time believing them, so I’m trying to push myself to be better and put myself out there.” – Sophie
“Sophie has made excellent progress in communicating with other people who are interested in her art. Previously she was worried about people being judgemental, but now she is able to accept that there is genuine interest, and she can be proud. This is a great achievement in helping to meet her social, emotional, and mental health needs.” – Anthea, Learning Support Worker
Showcasing her skills across different mediums, Sophie says her work allows her to express her mood and take characters and themes from media she likes, then give them her own spin and style. Whether that’s taking existing images and cutting them up to create a new effect, or applying new styles to characters, her work is highly varied. Some pieces are also more abstract, or a by-product of other projects, resulting in a mix of colour and texture.
In her words, ideas can come at random times, and she’ll get a burst of inspiration. Even while showing staff around today, she was getting excited about a new life-size stencil idea for a character from Gorillaz. Sophie is also considering how she may apply her creativity to work in future.
“Right now it is my hobby and something I do in my free time, but maybe in the future it would be great to help teach children about art. I have younger siblings and love doing art with them.” – Sophie
Sophie also recently attended a new art class in her local community, where she engaged brilliantly with the tutor and responded with a positive attitude to the lessons and direction she was given. This is another achievement for her in pushing herself out into the community and developing her artistic and social skills.
We’re excited to see what projects she pours her creativity into next!
