What do we see when observing a piece of art?
Do we all see the same thing or do we each bring our own ideas and experiences to the artwork?
Engage with art at home. Below are some questions to encourage children and young people to talk about art. Use these questions at home, or in the classroom with the Howard Hinton Collection which is able to be accessed online here. Outlined below are more contemporary examples from the Chandler Coventry Collection which is partly available to view online here. The Chandler Coventry Collection was described by the former Director of the Australian National Gallery, James Mollison as “one of the most important private collections of contemporary Australian art”.
Choose an artwork and try these prompts…
See
- Describe everything you see in the artwork
- What things are you unsure about?
- What could it be?
Think
- What does it make you think about?
- Does it remind you of anything?
Wonder
- What do you wonder about the artwork?
- I wonder why…?
- I wonder how…?
Do
- How could you find out more about the things you wonder?
- Read the title of the artwork
- Use your imagination
- Do your own further investigations…
Explore the artwork below…
Teachers/Educators Notes: