Self-Portraiture as Soul Revival
Free workshop at the Amsterdam Queer Hub!
How do we create a portrait of ourselves that expresses our inner being and our inner life? How can we connect with an honest image of ourselves while we’re oversaturated with presentations of perfections, norms and soulless AI slop?
In this two-hour workshop, we’ll play with drawing and writing to discover a fuller portrait of who we are.
In this workshop, expect to:
Get in touch with yourself in a queer-friendly and device-free environment.
Express your rich inner life through writing and visual tools and discover the power and limits of each form.
Tap into your imagination and creativity without the pressure to perform.
Walk away with:
A visual and written self portrait or expression of yourself.
New connections with other queer local artists, writers and everyone in-between.
A better understanding of how to use writing and images together for greater confidence and more freedom in expression.
No previous writing or art experience is necessary. This workshop is process-oriented and fun for any level. Your facilitators are empathy-led educators focused on making a safe and inclusive working environment for everyone.
This workshop is free of charge! Simply sign up here.
Your facilitators
Daniel J. Cecil is a writer and teacher in Amsterdam. His work has appeared in The Rumpus, The Heavy Feather Review, The LA Review of Books, Barrelhouse, Miracle Monocle, and The Stranger among other notable publications. His fiction has been nominated for a pushcart, was long listed for the Dzanc Fiction Prize, short-listed for the Yes Yes Books open reading period, and has received the support of several residencies.
Daniel teaches travel writing and literature for Emerson College at their Limburg campus and is the founder of Honing House, an English-language, community-centered, and empathy-led educational resource that was built for writers all over the world.
Shayna Schapp is a queer Artist Educator with a social and individual practice. She’s based in Amsterdam and has over 20 years experience working at the crossroads of creativity, pedagogy and social justice. Most notably, she spent 10 years as a core instructor with Interactive/Media/Design (I/M/D) at The Royal Academy of Art in The Hague, and 6 years as the Community Art Developer for LEAD, an after-school arts program in Amsterdam.
Shayna works with photography and drawing, documenting her immediate family and dreamlike aspects of daily life. Her work has been in solo and group exhibitions in the USA, NL, and UK, is a part of public and private collections, and has appeared in publications such as Versal Journal, Pigeonhole, and SMART Papers.