Stepping Into The World of Kids Art for Adults

Have you ever seen kids play with toys? Constructing odd shapes with building blocks or moulding irregular objects of clay? There is no right or wrong when kids become artists, everything becomes right because this is them playing. What happens when an adult reacts to a kid’s world? Artists Nairy Baghramian and Sofia Elias take us into a world of kids’ expressions full of colour, curiosity, imperfections, and non-fitting rooms full of life-size kids’ toys. Their ongoing exhibitions disrupt the way of adult thinking celebrating the creativity of kids and turning our imaginations and expectations upside down. Read Stepping Into The World of Kids Art for Adults

In a world where perfect symmetry and pristine designs are often highly valued; perfection is the goal. Nairy Baghramian brings us art, sculptures, and installations that unapologetically defy convention and precision. In her exhibition Jumbled Alphabet, she isn’t just creating sculptures; she’s constructing a world where the familiar rules of assembly don’t apply. Think about it, when kids play with things like building blocks we don’t expect excellence, do we?

Image Nairy Baghramian: Jumbled Alphabet, 2024. South London Gallery. Photo: Jo Underhill

Blocks of colour, abstract objects, and blank white floors with broken toy pieces, that should have fitted are left here to spark open-ended conversations with the viewers. The artist’s work embodies construction in the most unconventional sense, as it’s built on the principle of breaking down a work of art to reveal its underlying ‘workings’ known as ‘deconstruction‘.

Inspired by the children’s building toys that fit together just so, her sculptures refuse to align perfectly, challenging our need for things to ‘fit’. Think of a kid constructing a toy or deconstructing unbothered by the consequences ‘of winning, losing, or breaking down’. It is the experience of enjoying the process of doing it; the fun of play.

Image Misfits, 2021, Nairy Baghramian

Baghramian explores the idealism and expectations of kids. For example, in a world where we expect children laughing and smiling in pictures, she portrays pictures of a girl not facing the camera in the gallery, challenging the idealised expectations for a child to look happy in pictures.

Known for her style of choosing contrasting materials, she combines polished metals with soft leather and vibrant resin with raw, organic wood. Her sculptures hint at the human body; pieces of limbs, skin, flesh, and teeth seem to peek out, but they remain abstract enough to keep us guessing.

Image Misfits, 2021, Nairy Baghramian

Some pieces barely balance on the edges, others loom out of reach. The beauty of Misfits lies in its differences; there’s no ‘right’ answer, no order, no fitting together. It’s about seeing the charm in things and celebrating the process of being dysfunctional. It’s a cheeky rebellion against our obsession with the perfect, the functional, and the harmonious.

“A perfect idea doesn’t exist. We are always making something, breaking it and repairing it”.

Nairy Baghramian

Her interest in this thin membrane, this surface, a part almost invisible or often an ignored area, runs throughout all her works. For her, this is where the magic happens: between masculine and feminine, inside and outside, the expected and the unexpected.

Image Misfits, 2021, Nairy Baghramian

Throughout her exhibition, Jumbled Alphabet, she invites children and other artists to co-create. In Gallery 2, children are encouraged to sit on stools designed by artist Nicolas Hsiung to interact. Overhead, a mobile sculpture made in collaboration with artist Annette Messager swings gently.

“Does this even fit?” leaves the audience questioning their interaction with the sculptures and objects. The sculptures appear in a massive room, making visitors navigate the gallery in unexpected ways.

Image Misfits, 2021, Nairy Baghramian

If kids curiosity and playfulness in sculptures fascinate you, Riviera in Milan unveils “La repetición es un desastre II” by Sofia Elias, a new solo exhibition of playful, interactive sculptures, bags, and design pieces.

Image “La repetición es un desastre II” by Sofia Elias, Riviera

In Sofia Elias’ solo show at Riviera, the artist invites audiences to reconnect with the curiosity of a child, weaving playful narratives with meticulous craftsmanship. Her work, rooted in the nostalgia of her 90s upbringing in Mexico, transforms art and design into a tactile, joyful universe.

Image “La repetición es un desastre II” by Sofia Elias, Riviera

Her approach celebrates imperfection as a deliberate choice, a genuine quality that resonates only with children’s creativity.

Elias’ signature sculptures Pofi Chairs challenge the conventional function of furniture, turning them into interactive, playful art pieces. Her Gooey Bags sculptural accessories made from recycled plastic awaken the kid inside us all tempting us to touch and explore the object.

Image “La repetición es un desastre II” by Sofia Elias, Riviera

Elias’ latest body of work explores the interplay between colour, humour, form, material, and function, challenging traditional perceptions of art, bridging generations, and engaging adults to shed their seriousness and have fun.

A playground of sculptural exploration and a sensorial experience. Jumbled Alphabet by Nairy Baghramian and “La repetición es un desastre II” by Sofia Elias invites us all to lean into the beauty of imperfections, blurring our imaginative boundaries, and revealing the beauty of things that don’t fit but are art in themselves. It reminds us that we all have that inner child still present and that tapping into playfulness is a joy whatever the age.

Nairy Baghramian: Jumbed Alphabets, at South London Gallery, 27th September–12th January, 2025

“La repetición es un desastre II” by Sofia Elias, at Riviera, Milan, 7th November – 22th November, 2024

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