Suspended Animation

Date: April 1, 2018 Category: , ,
Large scale drawings
charcoal, emulsion, acrylic paint on paper 5' x 4' 2018

DESCRIPTION

Large scale drawings on paper of the suspended body

charcoal, emulsion and acrylic paint on Fabriano

These drawings are informed by the live drawings I’ve been making from performers using the Japanese art of ‘Shibari’ – elaborate rope tying. These are intense performances, both physically and psychologically and a complex drawing experience, on many levels. This is part of my investigation into drawing dynamic figures from life that challenge traditional notions of ‘Life Drawing’.

The suspended body is a powerful metaphor of freedom, submission, restraint…a liminal space?

I’m interested in the tension and weightlessness of these suspensions, the fragmentation of the body and its interaction with the taut lines of the rope/drawn line.