Family Activity Inspired by Swoon’s Medea in Swoon: Seven Contemplations

Swoon’s Medea in Swoon: Seven Contemplations asks us to reflect on our emotions. In this activity developed by Horizon Health Services, we’re going to draw the different parts we feel inside.

    Installation view of Medea in Swoon: Seven Contemplations at Albright-Knox Northland. Photograph by Brenda Bieger and Amanda Smith.

    Getting Started

    Everyone has different parts or pieces of themselves inside. Sometimes we are happy and love to have fun, and other times someone says something mean and we become so angry we want to yell. Sometimes we feel more one way than another. Sometimes we feel multiple ways at once. All these different parts of you are there for a reason—none of them are bad or wrong. All these different pieces make us into exactly who we are. In this activity developed by Horizon Health Services, we’re going to draw the different parts we feel inside.

    Materials

    • Paper
    • Pencil
    • Crayons, markers, or colored pencils

    Artmaking Activity

    1. Draw a big circle, heart, or any other shape on a piece of paper.

    2. Think about the different parts you feel inside—maybe happy, sad, scared, or angry. It may be helpful to write them down so you remember.

    3. Pick a color for each part you feel. It may be helpful to add the colors next to the list you made.

    4. Divide the shape you drew to fit all the different parts of you inside. Maybe you feel one way more than another, so make this part bigger in your shape.

    5. Fill in each different part of you in the shape. You can draw or write. Maybe it’s the things that make you feel this way, or what you do when you feel this way. Do this for each part you put in your shape.

    Vocabulary

    Emotions: feelings such as joy, anger, or sadness; strong emotions can be accompanied by physical changes such as an increase in pulse, crying, or trembling

    Reflect: to think about or ponder