Art Mania Studio was very lucky to be asked to be a part of the City of Newcastle Count Us In festival for 2023. Count Us In is an annual festival celebrating accessible arts in Newcastle, which this year included events such as inclusive sports days, professional training days, wetlands tours, discos, ghost tours, game nights and of course our very own Anime Soul.
Anime Soul was the first gallery exhibition we held in our new Studio 2 space, featuring paintings by Jessica Diamond. Jessica is one of our NDIS supported participants and has been working tirelessly to create this body of work.
For those of us having seen the development of Jessica's skills over the years, especially in the last few months, seeing her work exhibited was a great way to celebrate her progress and talents.
Jessica is inspired by the colours of the soul, anime and artists such as Margaret Keane and Frida Kahlo.
These influences are why our event night was also paired with a Frida Kahlo selfie photo booth, gorgeous Mexican decor, and a 2-hour Anime workshop following the exhibition.
Watch Jessicas introduction video here where she explains more about her story, and her inspirations that come from real adversity and imagined fantasy.:
Exhibition punters were invited to try their hand at making their own anime inspired artwork with local artists Samson and Ebbiny, who joined us from Art Heros.
Samson and Ebbiny themed the workshop round drawing anime eyes and expressions to coincide with Jessicas exhibition around anime, and the colours of the soul.
Students used templates, alcohol markers and pencils to sketch cool eyes (KakKoii) and cute eyes (kawaii). Some students even made a few new characters!
