First year BA Fine Art student Charlotte Grayland is taking part in the Arts Council of Wales Wales in Venice Invigilator Plus programme, spending a month at the Wales Biennale helping invigilate Sea Sean Edwards’s exhibition at the Wales Pavilion. Here’s her news from week two:’
‘This week the Scotland and Venice team hosted an after hours life drawing event hosting invigilators from Wales, Ireland, Scotland, Britain, Australia, New Zealand, Ukraine, Latvia and Malta. We drew a multitude of models and poses, with invigilators from different pavilions modelling and drawing together.
‘I really enjoyed the process of drawing alongside other creatives. It is the first time in a long while that I can remember choosing to spend a significant amount of time focusing on purely drawing, especially drawing from life. I found this extremely refreshing and freeing as an artist.
‘I am reminded that drawing has the capacity to reveal what you are truly visually interested in, whether you are aware of it or not. For example, during Scotland’s life drawing event I often found myself subconsciously captivated by the people drawing the model; the people watching the subject. This in fact shares one of the main themes of my creative project that I am exploring out here in Venice, observing the observers not the subject; looking at an artwork’s audience, not an artwork itself.
‘For a while now my practice has steered away from draftsmanship, and normally I only use drawing as a way of recording ideas; as the initial step in the making process. However, being in Venice and completing activities like this have inspired me to draw more frequently. Perhaps as a way to record my surroundings in mediums other than photography, and perhaps even drawing purely for pleasure or hobby, without the thought of an end product putting pressure on my making.
‘I am excited to see if and how this will affect my practice whilst in Venice and also on my return back to Cardiff.’
