By Tanya Steele
Artist Samantha Thompson wants adults to give in to their curiosity and playfulness at her exhibition “Relationship to Play” showing at The Memo until 11 June.
Thompson is an established monoprint and textile artist who has been working on the concept of play and spent a long time researching play throughout history as part of her work.
One thing that stood out to Thompson was the lack of theory and concept around adults in a play setting outside of the therapy zone.
“There was a big lack of theory about adult play and obviously people usually when they think of play they think of children,’ she said.
“Once we get to adulthood, play stops and becomes less important and life is more about achieving goals and being productive.”
Patrons are encouraged to approach the exhibition without an end goal and walk in with no expectations.
“For me the concept of play centres around doing something because you simply want to, for the joy of it,” she said.
“Everyone plays differently and brings their own history with play, so see how it makes you feel.”
Some of the exhibition is interactive and touch friendly, so people can get up and into the play space.
The vibrant and colourful work tracks Thompson’s journey with her relationship with play from childhood to adulthood.
Her first memories of play as a child involved bright colours, blocks and filling large spaces on paper with pastels.
“I used to draw with pastels in huge bold patterns and had these colourful blocks I loved to stack,” she said.
The larger sculptures featured emerged when Thompson imagined these mono-print shapes as 3D.
“I started thinking, what would that look like if it was 3D,” she said.
“They have a painterly feel to them and you can move them around and interact with them.”
There are some surprises hidden in the exhibition, Thompson wanted to take people almost into another world.
“Suprise, sparkles and intrigue are part of my approach to play,” she said.
“I thought, what does that look like, standing in front of me.”
Encouraging people to interact and move is part of Thompson’s aim with the work she has on display.
Larger sculptures are on the ground and people can approach and interact with them.
Play is a core part of Thompson’s artistic identity and she said now she has identified this, it will remain a fixture in her work.
“It has gone from on the wall, to on the ground and now to wearable art,” she said.
Some of her more recent wearable pieces are in the foyer at The Memo.
The exhibition is free at The Memo until 11 June.
