The Studio: Make An Impression - Social Story

The Studio: Make An Impression is a free activity space for visitors of all ages to create their own work of art in response to the Monet to Matisse: Defying tradition exhibition.

The Studio: Make An Impression has been designed by Tarntanya-Adelaide artists Arlon Hall and Billie Justice Thomson.

Arlon is a contemporary artist and educator. He works across painting, drawing and sculpture. His practice explores relationships between line, colour, and form.

Billie Justice is a visual artist. Her work explores nostalgia and sentimentality through everyday objects, food and Australian imagery. Her work is vibrant and playful.

The Studio walls, ceiling and tables are covered in multicoloured line drawn images and painted abstract shapes.

The room is dimmed so that some tables become illuminated light boxes.

A soundtrack created by the artists will play in the background. This can be muted upon request.

Our friendly Studio facilitators look forward to welcoming you into this space during school holiday periods, weekends, and on weekdays for student bookings.

In this Studio we encourage you to imagine stepping inside a painting.

Are you in a garden, landscape, an interior or someplace completely different?

Consider what you might see, smell, taste, hear or feel as you move through this environment.

What is something special that you have noticed around you?

Materials available to experiment with are:

• Acetate / transparent paper
• Coloured gel shapes
• Black and coloured textas
• Torches and light boxes

This Studio activity combines abstraction, observational drawing, and light-based experimentation.

You could:

Build an abstract composition
You may like to play with coloured gel shapes on the light tables to create abstract arrangements. Think about colour relationships, layering, shape, and space. You could place your acetate surface over the top of your composition and use coloured markers to trace and colour in your shape designs.

Add a line drawing
You could flip your acetate sheet over to create a line drawing. Consider inspiration of elements that feature ‘inside your painting’. Eg a plant, a building, an animal, a person.

Projection and torch exploration

You may like to use torches to project and illuminate your work. Consider how light creates a more immersive living image. You might also like to use the torches and/or the mirror to photograph yourself inside your work of art.

You may like to wear ear defenders as some areas of the gallery can become loud.

If the space is overwhelming, you may like to retreat to quieter gallery spaces such as the Asian galleries, or to the outside courtyard.

You are welcome to use your own fidget toys, to read, draw or listen to your own music in the Studio space.