Activity: Hidden Portraits

Inspired by the performances of Jimmy Robert, you are going to be the star of your artwork!

A child laid out on the floor holding a teddy bear in their hand, with a foot in a red bucket, a newspaper across their body, a blue cushion covering their head and a blanket covering their other hand.
Jimmy Robert laid down with a small set of stairs covering his head.

With your family, collect some items from around your home. They might be, blankets, cushions, boxes, cuddly toys, newspaper, books etc.

A toy duck sat on top of a blanket, next to a pillow and a newspaper whilst leaning backwards on to a red bucket.
A bundle of bags in front of a wooden, circular table.

Choose an area in your home where there is enough space to gather your items and you. This could be your bed, the front room, a corridor etc.

Have your family help. Let them put you in a posed position, sitting, standing or lying down. Ask them to arrange the objects you have collected around you.

Some of these may cover parts of your body. It’s good to show some parts and hide other parts, a bit like a human collage.

Now you have had a go, you might be able to work together to use larger objects, objects that are too heavy to move so you go to them, tables, chairs, boxes etc.

We would love to see how you became the art, so take a picture and share it with us on our social media #NCMaking.

A child laid with a blanket covering their body with an arm and leg outstretched on either side. A bag, a pillow, a cloth and a pair of shoes are displayed at either side.

Have you taken part in our family activities ?

Working digitally, means we miss all those lovely conversations we would usually have with you, sharing ideas, listening, and seeing how you respond to our workshops. It is difficult to get feedback when we don't see you and this would really help.

The survey takes about 10 mins or less to complete and it will really help our team to understand more about what you thought ready for when we are back together at Nottingham Contemporary.

You can fill out our survey by clicking here.

We'd love to hear what you think.

Fill out our family survey

This activity was created by our Play & Learn Facilitator, Rachel Scanlon

Rachel sat in front of small sculptures of people.

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