Confluence of Compassion

Confluence of Compassion is an evolving participatory, contemplative artwork. Its conception started with the prompt: Imagine living a world flooded with compassion.

Confluence used in this instance is an act or process of merging. Compassion is a worldview.

At its core, compassion is about recognising our common humanity – about seeing that we are all human with our own struggles, hopes, and needs. Knowing that, we bring a desire to care for, support, and value other people just as we would like to be cared for, valued, and supported. Not only that, it means creating whole societies in a way that everyone feels included and their needs met, defining our approach to everything from climate policy to economics.

At the dam

What if we wrote our compassion needs down, set them out to float trusting they would be received? Perhaps the clarity of the articulation would focus our minds, distilling our needs to their most elementary state.

Might it be that water from this dam and the immersed offerings of compassion find their way to other bodies of water, “that the cyclical life of rainfall - sky to earth to sky again, over and over” - could bring compassion “through cloudburst and current,” to all waters “that flowed across the earth?”

As people engage with the artwork, adding their own experiences of receiving or giving compassion, they can visually see the ripple effect of compassionate acts and the larger subtle flow on effect this has on a societal level. The natural substance to demonstrate ripples and flow is water which is why this artwork is part of the Aqua Limina exhibition. Contemplating water as a metaphor for compassion connects us to our relationship with nature allowing us to remember that the reason humans exist at all is because of water.

Please come along on 11 April to join me at the dam: Free Ticket Link

Compassion for the non-human world at Talweg dam

The Joy of Artful Engagement

On Saturday afternoon at Side Gallery, Donna McDonald and I held the inaugural Artful Engagement Workshop. We were testing the waters to see if there is an appetite for engaging in art for individual wellbeing.

Our intention was to share some artful practices to help stay grounded, centred, calm & healthy. Our first group of participants were warm and supportive.

“Loved the opportunity to take time for myself, learn new skills that I will use and be in the company of fabulous people. Very gentle intro to art, loved the take home aspects.” Louise

“Donna & Lisa are gift givers and take you to a creative and enriching space. Very interesting process and I made some art!” Johanna

“Great Workshop! Perfect way to start the wind down of 2020… Reflective, at the same time learning some new concepts linking to language. Loved learning ‘mark making’ concepts - many thanks.” Matt

It was easy to work alongside Donna as we both have a focus on nurturing our individual and collective wellbeing, collaborating to create supportive art activities, that are rooted in neuroscience, to navigate our personal stories.

If you are interested in attending a future workshop, please let us know.

Patterning Good Habits

The talented Maureen Hansen and I were delighted to be part of the Art Expo at the Brisbane Mental Health Expo on Friday. We met so many terrific people who spoke openly about their struggles with mental health and their strategies to maintain good mental health.

It was heartwarming to see that people responded well to making patterns and could feel more peaceful as they were participating. A few were very surprised to find they were more creative that they thought they were.

How it Works:

It’s Self-Soothing. Repetitive creative work, in and of itself, can be calming and self-soothing. This is particularly true if you accept this process as one with no expected outcome other than the enjoyment of putting the pen to paper and staying open to whatever emerges.

It Teaches How to Own Mistakes. Using a pen on paper requires that you risk making mistakes; in fact, most patterns some misplaced lines which cannot be erased. Patterning teaches you how to incorporate what seem like “mistakes” into the overall pattern of the design. It’s a great metaphor for everyday life—nothing is ever perfect, but how you adjust to mistakes is what really matters.

It Induces Flow State. This making of patterns often leads in to a state of flow, which Csíkszentmihályi describes as “an intrinsically rewarding or optimal state that results from intense engagement with daily activities”. It’s a simple way to enjoy the creative process.