Chichester's Young Pallant Artists - "I feel so proud of all of us"
Young Pallant Artists are showing their work in a special exhibition free to visit in the Print Room at Chichester’s Pallant House Gallery running until April 20.
YPAs are a group of artists aged 18-30 who meet weekly at Pallant House Gallery – young people who might, for whatever reason, face obstacles to their participation in art whether it be because of disability or mental health issues or perhaps isolation.
Alongside their own practice, the YPAs are encouraged to look at the gallery’s collection for inspiration. This year, the gallery invited them to curate a selection of its significant collection of screenprints for the Print Room. The exhibition explores the versatility of the popular printmaking medium and also offers fresh perspectives on the artworks.
Hannah, aged 20, is one of the four young artists taking part in the exhibition along with Oliver, Carleigh and Kami. Hannah has been part of the group for a couple of years.
“I was going through a difficult time in my life. I was very creative but I had not let myself show that side of me in my personal life and that's what this gave me. If you dedicate time to something that is just for you, you can be mindful, and when you are creating, that lets other parts of your brain work that you might not use otherwise and it allows something else to come out. It is peaceful as well as there being a community aspect.
“Mindfulness for me is cutting out the noise and the worries of everyday things especially technology which is hard to escape from and that really affects young people.”
Hannah describes it as a digital detox: “I'm someone that would be wanting to be doing something constantly and it's like turning off the switch. When I'm doing this I don't feel that I need to be running round and round being busy. Instead I'm just very happy in the moment. I'm not thinking about whatever else I could be doing. And a lot of the time when we're working together we're talking but sometimes it just goes quiet when we all focus on something and it's really good to have that silence.
“We meet every week. I was born and bred in Chichester and before this I really didn't know anyone in Chichester at all. But this has opened a community to me that I didn't know existed before. Pallant House was my first bubble that I got into and I just felt a little more confident being out in the city that I love and that I was born in, and through that I have discovered a big community of people. The opportunities that Pallant House gives us are just incredible.”
As for the exhibition: “It was quite open about what we wanted to do. We had a look at the screen prints in the collection at Pallant House. We reviewed them all together as a group and we had a discussion about what was interesting or it might be philosophical or it might just be about the look and about the colours and then we started working. It's got quite a broad theme which is human nature.”
And it's fantastic now to see the exhibition up, about 20 pieces from the four of them: “It has been amazing. I feel so proud of all of us. It's been a great shared experience.”
Emily Robson, who is one of the gallery’s two community programme managers, is delighted at the way the group is progressing. It meets from 4.30 to 6pm on Thursdays mostly in term time and there are currently vacancies. If anyone wishes to become involved, then they should contact Emily at the gallery.