Dialogue: Collection Response

Displays

On display until 3rd May

Gallery reception

Between November 2024 and February 2025, a group of Year 2 Fine Art students at Norwich University of the Arts worked in response to the Sainsbury Centre Living Area to inform a new collection of artworks.

Guided by associate artist Rose Feather, many of the students chose single objects from the collection to work in response to, which they felt personal connections with. Some visited the conservation stores to see artworks not currently on display. Other students looked beyond the collection to the geometric wall panels and air vents surrounding it, or responded to the curatorial choices made by collectors Robert and Lisa Sainsbury.

This display is the second of two outcomes for the project. The first was a week-long residency and exhibition at Norwich University of the Arts, to test individual ideas as well as ways of curating the works together. These cases display partner pieces to that initial exhibition, made to be encountered in close proximity to the artworks which initiated the Project.

A short film titled ‘Process’ accompanies this display. View the film on our Channel here.

Artworks by:

Pippa Bloom
Holly Browning
Brigitte D’angelo
Ez Grief
Michelle Gumbo
Darcy Hamond
Chrystal Harrison
Annabelle Horrex
Franka Matthes Thompson
Chloe Marrs
Amelia Ranger
Dan Tyhurst
Amy White

Passers-by were intrigued by the multilayered projections spilling out of the studio into the Link Corridor gallery, broken up with gently rotating shadows created by the suspended sculptures inside.

Once inside, visitors explored the studio, which was inhabited by artworks on all scales, including clay miniatures and looming life-sized figures. A seated campfire area and kaleidoscopic colouring sheets were provided to encourage people to pause and notice details in the work on display.

Visitor enjoying ‘Reflections’ by the Young Associates. Photo credit Kat Mager.

Clever use of digital and overhead projectors, reflective glass and gentle air movement helped to create an immersive experience that visitors described as ‘calm’, ‘thought-provoking’, and ‘compelling’.

The Reflections exhibition was the result of a seven-week collaborative project by the Young Associates, supported by associate artist Anna Brass and taking inspiration from the rich diversity of artwork on display in the Power Plants and Ayahuasca and the Art of the Amazon exhibitions as well as Lindsey Mendick’s Hot Mess interventions. Anna summed up the group’s effort, saying ‘I enjoyed the playfulness of the exhibition and was really impressed by how cohesive it felt. There were many different elements but they worked well as a whole’.

Visitor enjoying ‘Reflections’ by the Young Associates. Photo credit Kat Mager.

The young artists interrogated their own relationships to drugs and their many effects, from medicinal and social to recreational. They created an impressive portfolio of material including drawing, collage, painting, sculpture and costume design. Building weekly on their previous work, they experimented with ways to transform their workspace, trialling innovative uses of reflection, projection, shadow and colour.

The young people involved in the project appreciated having support from the Sainsbury Centre Learning team to take part in a project that was ‘really exciting and inspiring’, and the opportunity to contribute to the visitor experience, showcasing their work publicly.

Young Associates is a free creative programme for young people aged 16-25 years old. Find out more on our Young People’s Page

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