“Artists – come gather in the Cave,
hollow out your time to be in the chamber carved just for you,
escape the distractions of the whirling-world to look deeply and slowly at the artwork, your Self, and each other;
come gather to give attention to what matters, refresh your eyes and hands and words and mind and dreams to transform something;
come gather what you need to let the work you make make you more deeply, and be seen and understood.
Come gather, for a short while”
Online monthly group sessions for artists.
Sessions focus on the development of your work, and your Self, through deeply informed feedback and coaching.
For artists who:
- Work mostly on their own but want in depth engagement and feedback from peers on the work they make to improve their practice.
- Find the subjects they work with can evoke wobbly emotions or memories, and want support to process, be with, know them, without getting stuck there.
- Who recognise their personal issues make the work more challenging such as a lack of focus, or play; avoidance, procrastination; perfectionism; burnout; fear of failure; etc, but want more awareness of the unconscious root causes so they can choose differently and in doing so help their peers experiencing similar issues.
How do the sessions work?
Focus – The Work in The Cave
Sessions begin with a focus artist who will show three pieces of work. They will be silent and the facilitator will lead the discussion with the group that will cover four key areas: materiality; interpretation; questioning; and finally opinions that the artist can choose whether to hear based on relevance to their work, or not. This is based on the Liz Lehrman method of group critique which fosters insightful and effective feedback.
Focus – The Transformation in The Cave
The artist will then be invited to share any personal challenges or experiences they would like to transform which will start the second part of discussion and tools for advancing personal practice. It will look and feel like creative group therapy and the wider group will also take part sharing and working with their own experiences.
The pilot session will have two focus artists.
On leaving the cave
You can expect to:
Have gained deeper knowledge and understanding of current art practices, enjoying the discussion and supporting someone like you.
Renewed ways of understanding your own practice, the ideas, materials, processes, and values, by learning from the questions asked and reflecting on your work.
Be more deeply aware of the unconscious influences from your past, and transformed an attitude or belief that has been restraining you in some way, from willingness to reflect on your experiences in relation to the group topics discussed.
The Artists Cave – led by Artists
The focus for each session is brought by the artists who arrive. In terms of both the work shared, interpretations, and experiences.
Facilitator – Tiffany Robinson
As an artist, educator, and mentor with experience in teaching and life-coaching, my aim with the Cave is to create a place for peers to connect and enrich each other’s practice, to go further than they could on their own, and to experience more joy being an artist.
Leading the foundation art and design programmes at West Dean College, I realised that students save a lot of time through support in their personal practice as well as making the work, so I introduced personal practice to the professional practice modules and it made a difference. Having retired from a part-time career in education whilst making and exhibiting work, I’m focusing my time on my own art practice and in helping others to enrich theirs. I trained in transformational psychology with Psychology of Vision (PoV). PoV uses metaphor and a sense of the power of the more than human to make the process faster. You can feel the thread of an issue (the feeling and cause) without needing to tell it’s full journey – the Cave is not a place for long stories from the past, we won’t have time for it, the strongly felt glimpses make the transformation process quick and profound with the tools of PoV.
The right kinds of questions expand the range of possibilities in the work, and hone the visionary focus to complete it. The Artists Cave gives the attention both the artist and the work needs.
Cost
Pilot session £25; thereafter £35 per 2 hour session
Dates
Pilot session: August Friday 14th at 9am
September tbc
October tbc
November tbc
December
January
February
Book
Click the date above to book your place. On the next window, click the box to select whether you want to be the focus artist. The link to the Zoom room will be sent to you with some preparation notes (about how the session will run and
Enquiries
07834 640707 / tiffany@theartofenquiry.com
Preparation
To attend you will need reliable Wi-Fi, a laptop or computer (to see the work, on a mobile or tablet it will be too small to see well enough), a quiet space (so when you talk we can hear you well).
FAQs
How do you choose who will be the focus artist?
It will be the first one to ask who hasn’t presented recently. If you would like to receive a reminder you can subscribe to the newsletter or follow instagram for updates.
If I’m not the focus artist, what will I get from each session?
You can expect to learn more about the work of peers, enjoy taking part in deep discussions on art reflecting on your own practice, and get help with your personal issues affecting your practice.
Can I just attend one session, or do I need to join all of them?
It is up to you. The aim is that sessions are insightful, useful, and create a sense of community through engagement with the work and each other.
Can I just attend the first part, I don’t want or need to work on my personal issues?
With the Cave sessions, the idea is to gain insights on both the work and the artist, so for these sessions you need to stay with both. If enough people want just the first part I can arrange a separate group so let me know.
How do I ask to be the focus artist?
When you book your place, click the box to be focus artist.
How much experience should an artist have before attending a session?
Sessions are for artists who have established practical skills, and have some experience in showing their work to others.
I’ve never used Zoom before, is it free and easy to use?
You can create a free Zoom account, it is easy to use and instructions can be found here:
How many places are there for each session?
The pilot session has a limit of up to 8 artists, the following sessions may have more (12).