There are moments when the world seems to be plummeting around you, moving at a million miles per hour, and you’re glued in a singular place, unable to locate safety. We are consistently bombarded with external stimuli, judgements, comparisons, and weapons armed towards our self-image. ‘Look Within’ at The Space Between Aum (SBA) is an exhibit that embodies the chaos that lies within our internal world as we approach, analyze, and confront our external visage.
It highlights the importance of confronting what lies beneath just our skin and celebrates ourselves as unique.
This exhibit, decked with sunflowers, champagne and introspective works of art, was displayed in the heart of Woodstock, the hub of art and culture. It contained a vibrant, welcoming array of diverse upcoming artists, all of whom took the time to discuss their interpretation and inspiration behind their pieces and hear their viewers’ opinions too.
The artist who stood out to me the most was Romi. I felt her pieces truly captured our internal state of being. They time-stamped the intricate moments in which we experience overthinking, anxiety, and waves of infinite thoughts racing at us at incomprehensible speeds. It served as a reminder that there is a world hidden within our physical body, and it is that world that deserves our affection, self-compassion, and solace.
Romi describes the artwork as a reflection of her feelings and a direct comparison to the emotion wavering beneath her paintbrush. Speaking to Romi about her work, she described how the inspiration behind her artwork stems from the bullying she experienced in high school. Bullied for her “big front teeth” and her curly hair, she turned the maliciousness thrown towards her into a lesson to look towards the future, for new seeds or journeys that would await her, that would give her a place to fit in, which she had never experienced before.
As we looked together at her artwork above, Romi described this piece as a “lapse in time”, a snippet of a moment captured through brush strokes. This differed from my own interpretation of the artwork, which was a feeling of being out of place, whether it be in society, with friends, or in the workplace. The despondent look of the girl in blue signified a great sense of sorrow of inherent isolation. Romi smiled and pondered on my perspective, considering my opinion of her work. Our perspectives in life, art, music, literature, and theatre are all determined by our past experiences and hardships. It can be said that our identity thrives within the lens through which we view art. And society itself thrives when we take the time to view the lens and perspectives of others.
Sarafina Naisula (pictured above) was another of my favourite artists at the exhibit. The main theme in her exhibit was the relational role of bees in our society and within our hearts. She drew inspiration from the well-known idea that Africa is the land of milk and honey. Bees are known to work in unison, both to sustain and to transform our environment. Each bee has its individual role in the hive, much like humans have their own individual role in society. Each of our roles is unique, contributing to a larger ecosystem and community, and it is these individual roles that deserve to be celebrated.Â
Looking within the artworks at The Space Between Aum allowed me to look within myself, too, at the challenges that influenced and curated who I am today and to confront the residue of those challenges head-on. We tend to place our past, our battles, and our criticism in a mental box, never to be seen or touched unless it is to add a new battle or critique. However, these artworks help reveal the need to find comfort in acknowledging and accepting these parts of ourselves and these differences to truly flourish and connect with our identity and to find our purpose and place in a harsh and ever-changing world.