ARTISTIC FREEDOM IN LOCKDOWN

THINKING INSIDE THE BOX: Gisborne artist Phoebe Gander's online art challenge during the lockdown has attracted hundreds of entrants and has helped her experiment with her own art. Picture supplied

In lockdown with three children, Gisborne artist Phoebe Gander is not able to create much of her own art at the moment so she has set up a 30-day online art challenge.

For each day of April, Gander posts a fresh prompt on Instagram. The prompt is a starting point for artists to produce a piece of art in a short time and post it on an Instagram page.

“The idea came about last year for a 30-day, online, art-sharing gallery because I'd seen other month-long challenges other creatives were running. I thought ‘wouldn't it be good if there was something like that for artists'.”

When she posted 30 prompt ideas and posted them on Facebook, a lot of people took part in it, she says.

“It was a great way for artists to connect. I thought it was a one-off but with Covid-19 and the lockdown, I put the challenge on Instagram.”

She initially thought people might not want to participate because they would be busy, but the response was almost overwhelming, she says. Her Instagram gallery now has 4800 posts.

“A lot of people said they needed a focus. In this lockdown situation, we can feel disempowered and hopeless because we can't do our jobs. This gives people a purpose and something to focus on each day.”

The April challenge offers 30 reasons to produce artwork, she says.

“You get on a roll and you get confident about sharing and posting your work. This has connected me with a lot of artists. You make connections with people all over the world.

“If we're all doing this on the same day, you're not alone, you're a part of a community. Hopefully, when this is over, you've made a lot of connections.”

While the aim of the challenge is for artists to share their art practice by responding to daily prompts, the challenge has proved to be motivational for Gander's own work.

Time spent in her studio during the lockdown is constrained, so she is exploring ways of redirecting her creativity rather than putting it on hold.

“I get small pockets of time where I can go into the studio so I'm doing smaller, quicker pieces. I didn't want to use up all the paint I usually use because I can't buy any online, so I rummaged through my paints and found fat tubes I hadn't used much and thought I'd experiment.

“I'm being free with the marks and paint I'm using and pushing myself to use different tools and mediums.”

To help free up the process, she experiments with using her non-dominant hand to paint and paints with earthy tones that are not customarily part of her palette.

“I scribble marks with my left hand and paint loosely with no over-thinking.”

One irony of life in lockdown is Gander finds herself more focused and more productive when she knows she has only half-an-hour to spare in the studio.

“It's a cathartic process, doing something creative. I'm doing it more for the process than the outcome at the moment.”

When the lockdown ends, one of the artists who have contributed daily to the April challenge will be randomly selected and will receive one of Gander's artworks.

“I was overwhelmed by how many people have taken part in the challenge. I've stopped watching the news and now go and look at the hashtags.”

For those who would like to pick up the challenge, the Instagram hashtag is #aprilforartists2020.

Gander's own abstract landscapes and seascapes can be viewed on Instagram at phoebeganderart