We receive 24 hours notice of our first group crit. There is no time to produce the perfect drawing from the sketches that we each of us have around our spaces. There is only time to select which ones we are prepared to show and to say what? I have had time to develop some
more fast sketches of badgers in the dark. I decide that I will present the experiments and talk about how I envisage taking them forward. The tactile nature of the dark on dark is starting to make sense to me, but nothing is resolved and it all feels very obvious to me.
Raine appears, we haven’t seen her for a couple of weeks. Matilda and I chat and suggest a coffee. She doesn’t say no but admits that she spends most of her time trying to avoid other humans. We retreat realising that we are being a little overbearing. Raine then surprises me by volunteering to be the first person to present. I am not confident about giving feedback on her work. It is on an ipad and there are some beautiful images but they are quite disparate, ranging from subtle surface textures to manga like figurative drawings. Somebody observes that the act of flicking through the work is akin to a comic or storyboard. Raine seems to like this idea. In fact later when feeding back on my work she creates a story from the order of the badger sketches. I reflect on how different the Chinese art education system is from ours. In contrast to our cult of the individual, the art schools that I saw in China favour mastering a number of very different styles and the concept of the work doesn’t appear to be a large priority. I hope that we can encourage Raine to come for a coffee and chat.
Declan goes next. He is sparkly and his work is sensitive and interesting. His abstract marks on the first image remind me of frescos in the crypt at Gargilesse.
Next is Ross. He has been working on a very interesting piece that explores the prompts from last week’s Rules of Drawing workshop. The face is multi faceted and draws me in. We are all engaged with the openness of the image.
Matilda has brought her found objects from the beach and the sketches that she has made from them. As she talks about her sketches we pass around the pieces of sea glass and smooth pebbles. The added information received through our fingers adds a dimension to the experience of the work on the wall. Beautiful. It makes me want to draw on paper and wrap stones in the paper.
Patrick presents his landscapes. The marks are very interesting. Getting up close I wonder if each ‘squiggle’ is made from the bottem to the top. He confirms that they are. It strikes me that the rules he has created for his drawing are very strict. I want to ask why but don’t. I am not sure whether such a question would be too intrusive or imply a negative judgment. I don’t want to be either.
After the break we look at Pascal’s film. It is a conversation between him and his mother as they sit opposit each other and draw each other and then draw on each other, or at least on a mask on the other’s face. There is a lovely intimacy about the film, a great warmth. One comes from the other. It is fascinating
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