by Louisa McDonald

On Sunday, I had the privilege of attending the opening of an exhibition launched by St Andrews students Helen Wordsworth and Anne Moorhouse in collaboration with the Art Society: the exhibition ‘WeArtResilient’ brought together a range of artworks from St Andrews students related to the theme of resilience. The exhibition opening took place in the upstairs room at J & G Innes LTD Stationers, 107 South Street, where the exhibition will remain until April 2nd.

The theme of resilience was chosen, according to the exhibition’s statements on their social media pages, because it is a quality that almost all artists have to exhibit, no matter what culture, political landscape, or time period they are operating in. Resilience in personal circumstances can come through in artwork, as art always reflects the life of the artist to an extent. Moreover, producing artwork often requires a high degree of emotional resilience, as the artist must carefully choose how to communicate personal feelings and experiences that they may not have shared before. The exhibition therefore aims to celebrate the resilience that goes into producing a piece of art. It is for this reason that the exhibition showcased not only the finished products, but also the processes of creation: each piece was accompanied by a short piece of text explaining how it was made and the core ideas behind its creation. Some pieces even included the earlier stages of producing the artwork as part of the finished product, such as an array of sketchbooks and drafts accompanying the final piece.

My friend and collaborator Vil and I were honoured to have two of our own pieces displayed in the exhibition. We frequently collaborate on photoshoots (Vil designs and wears her own pieces and I take photographs of her), and for this exhibition, we had submitted two photographs from two separate Valentine’s Day photoshoots we had done together. The theme of our piece was ‘Heartbreak’, as we felt that this related to the need for resilience in romantic life. Resilience was symbolised in our piece through Vil’s outfits, which subverted traditional romantic ideals by depicting ripped bridal gowns, or a dress soaked in blood. It was truly a privilege to see our work displayed in the gallery space; the quality of the photographs, which the organisers of the exhibition had kindly printed out for us, was impressively high and helped me see even my own work in a new light.

The range of visual art displayed in the exhibition was truly impressive, and a testament to the highly talented creatives in the St Andrews community. The exhibition included not only photographs and paintings, but also clothing, poems displayed visually, sculptures, and sketchbooks detailing the process of brainstorming art. Anne Moorhouse and Helen Wordsworth also exhibited beautiful pieces of their own: I found Anne’s portrait of Winston Churchill to be truly arresting, reminding me of the historic importance of the rhetoric of resilience in British politics, and the range of colours and shapes in Helen’s pieces was brilliantly thought-provoking. Seeing art exhibited in a physical space, where we can approach it and appreciate the fine details that go into making an artwork, is something which we do not get to experience often enough as so much gets subsumed into the digital world.

If you have time before the exhibition closes on the 2nd of April, I would highly recommend paying a visit to this truly excellent exhibition. Whether or not you are an artist yourself, there is much to be gained from thinking about the importance of resilience in our everyday lives and how this can be transformed into a creative product.