Soft Play
Thinking about nostalgia and safety as themes that came up in my small tutorial group i was thinking about spaces that exists purely for comfort and play; as comfort can only be felt and achieved in a safe space. This made me think about soft play areas and the relief they supply to kids as well as parents. A safe space literally designed so you cant leave or hurt yourself; pure comfort. So wanted to mimic this using ball pit balls as objects to fill a space. However it didn’t really provide me with much to work from or move forward with. Though i did create some nice imagery to maybe return to or maybe draw from later it came to a dead end. Moving forward i began researching into a lot of sensory soft play spaces for children with learning difficulty and things like autism where everyday spaces (supermarkets) can be challenging and overwhelming. These spaces provide sanctuary from the outside world. A multi-sensory is the ideal place for people of all ages and abilities to have the stimulation they need to encourage them to interact with their environment and increase or maintain functional skills. I found this idea of an ‘away space’ really interesting and want to come back to it.
Comfort Text
Thinking about materials i started experimenting with crochet and knitting originally because i wanted to make a safety/security blanket. However i found it to be too time consuming as i was new to it but still want to do it throughout the project and continue to use and explore these materials. I love the colour-full soft quality of using wool and string and this motherly quality they have to them as I have discovered a lot of this project and my own feelings of comfort come from a type of female energy.
The text came from ‘Are you sitting comfortably?’ Listen with Mother which was a bbc radio programme for children which ran between 1950 and 1982. I found this very fitting with spending so much time inside ‘comfortable’ because of covid. Almost encouraging us to settle into our own space/minds/bodies as this is the way its going to be for a while weather we like it or not.
CHARLEY MILLAR ART 