Model Residency at Draw Brighton
Having developed theĀ āAttitudesā drawing salon with Art Macabre and the Maritime Museum, I am keen to continue to fly with the inspiration from this newly rediscovered art form. Ā
I have also been interested in occasionally taking on the role of facilitating sessions- partly because it is the only time I really make to draw, and of course it is very beneficial for models to see things from the other side of the easel! Ā It is inspiring to work with and from other models, we bounce off one another and everything feeds back into our work and enriches the life drawing experience overall.
āDrawā has invited me to curate a monthly āModel Residencyā. Ā Each month will star a different model (or models), who will present their own innovative and inspiring life drawing session. Ā The models will reflect on their personal connection with life drawing and what modelling means to them, how it flows into other aspects of their lives and is fuelled by their passions.
When I first began modelling about 8 years ago, life models rarely met. We would pass from class to class like ships in the night, only getting to know one another through the portraits drying in the studios, masking tape ghosts of poses past, and tea-break tales of particularly impressive modelling feats and unusual attributes. Ā
It was through the White Night event in 2009 that I first had the opportunity to work with other models. Ā Jake Spicer brought Emma, Zoe, Ian and myself together to pose as differentĀ āCards From The Deckā to be drawn over the course of this all-night extravaganza.
Since then, we have had many more events, opportunities, and collaborations. Around 30 models took part in the largest Drawing Circus: http://www.thedrawingcircus.co.uk/the-grand-drawing-circus.html. Ā We have held regular events over the past few years at The Old Market, with themes conceived and curated by the various members.
Artists, Models, iNK is a modelling collective which was born from our mutual desire to explore the importance and nature of āthe museā. http://artistsmodelsink.tumblr.com/Ā
The life drawing community in Brighton has strengthened over the years and models have been well supported by one another and by the studios and tutors in their autonomy and creativity.
Emma Hamilton was the first artistsā model to break out of the canvas and transform the role from object to subject- āplaying Pygmalion to [her] own star role as Galateaā.* Ā
Photo from 2011 White Night eventĀ āCorporealāĀ
What are āthe Attitudesā?
Here is a section from Gillian Russellās description of Emma HamiltonāsĀ āAttitudesā:
āBefore long, the model would become the artist, and her body and costume would be the artwork. Ā In the process, the controlling presence of male cultural authority was subtly challenged. Ā [ā¦] Wearing simple Grecian costume, and using a few props, she made a sequence of dramatic poses and the transitions between them seem effortless and magical. Ā This was not a performance of dance, and it was often apparently simple movements- letting down her hair, rapidly positioning a shawl or adjusting her expression- that Emma used to conjure a different persona.ā**
āSamuel Johnsonās Dictionary of the English Language (1755) definedĀ āattitudeā asĀ āthe posture or action in which a statue or painted figure is placedā. Ā āAttitudeā thus entailed the deployment of the whole body, not merely the face or head, and was the main way by which a painter or sculptor created an imitation of action or life in his or her subject.ā*** Ā
Whenever we strike aĀ āposeā we are placing ourselves into an attitude, to be captured by the artist. Ā
Emma created her āAttitudesā using her education under her husband, William Hamilton, and utilised items of antiquity from his collection as props. Ā She drew upon her experience behind the scenes in the theatre, and as Romneyās muse, as well as her own experiences as a woman to tell the melodramatic tales of mythological heroines. Ā TheĀ āAttitudesā would have been performed as domestic āentertainmentsā for guests. Ā Ā
Researching the āAttitudesā has given me fresh ways to look at my work as a life model and performer, and is the perfect way to combine the two. Ā It is fitting that I kick off the new residency by bringing the āAttitudesā to Brighton! Ā
Please follow the link below for more information and bookings, and check the āDrawā website for future dates, themes and star models!
http://www.draw-brighton.co.uk/events/3042/model-s-residency-attitudes
There is time yet to see the exhibition at the Maritime Museum in Greenwich too- it is on until the 17th April:
http://www.rmg.co.uk/see-do/emma-hamilton-seduction-and-celebrity
*Gillian Russell, pg 145, Emma Hamilton, Seduction and Celebrity
**Gillian Russell, pg 161,Ā Emma Hamilton, Seduction and Celebrity.
***Gillian Russell, pg 140, Emma Hamilton, Seduction and Celebrity.
