A BRUTALIST FAIRYTALE
REALISM & ROMANTICISM
If I had to efficiently sum up my inspirations & aesthetics, I would turn to no other example than the Alexander McQueen ‘Shipwreck’ gown, from his Irere collection, produced in 1997.
McQueen's work almost always carries a narrative, and though his work often came with 'the shock of the new' there was a strong romanticism that broke through in what felt, to me, like a Brutalist fairytale.
​
Like all of McQueen’s work, this gown (‘piece’… ‘work of art’…) is constructed with his simultaneously exquisite understanding of traditional tailoring & his affinity with abandoned, haunted or wild feminine characters.
The Bronte-esque ghosts in Wallstreet cuts that repeatedly emerged in his shows empowered femininity without neglecting its strength and like many before me, I have shed a tear at these hauntingly beautiful collections.
​​
​In my work I strive to convey both the strength and physicality, as well as the ethereal and sensory qualities of dance. When I began creating I thought my love for Brutalist, minimal, Modernist design had no place in representing the etherial and delicate properties of ballet... but as I braved incorporating it in to my style, it became clear that fusing these two opposing aesthetics was the perfect way for me to reflect the multifaceted jewel that is ballet - both tough and polished, each attribute as vital as the other and in need of acknowledgement.​​​
I am as spellbound by a Rick Owens chair, as I am Odettes' delicate white tutu, sometimes in fact, the tulle even obstructs 'the line' somewhat​​ and so I am wholeheartedly embracing the contrast of the two, in both how I technically create and how I style my creations.​....
​​​​​​
SKETCHING IN CLAY - SCULPTING IN PENCIL
​​
SCULPTING IN PENCIL - ARTICULATION
​
''Drawing, or 'design' is the extension of the heart, through the arm on to paper'' - Michelangelo via Glen Keane, Disney character artist and animator.
Functionality ironically often results in the most pleasing visual result. Our eyes enjoy looking at something that 'does its job' and over the years I came to realise that great art often had one thing in common, the prioritisation of dedication to its subject. This is not to say there shouldn't be a place in art purely for the artists voice, if the subject is the artists 'voice' then this follows that concept perfectly.​​​
I like fonts. No wait stay!... So, drawings have this rep for being simply a precursor to a finished work of art, a preliminary stage of something 'better' but I'm with Glen Keane, who spoke about how strongly he disagrees with this outdated concept. As one of Disneys most beloved character artists, you'd probably recoil in horror to learn of the days when the art department he worked in at Disney routinely shredded, rather than archiving the animators drawings. Can you see it? The Little Mermaids hand reaching for the sun, as she descends through the blades of a 1989 griege plastic paper shredder? ...*shudder (there's an analogy for the war between plastics and natural materials if ever I wrote one.)
Anyway I like fonts... they do their job, like this one you're reading now and though there are some aesthetic elements in my choice, it's really just that I like reading this font, I dont have to think about the font, so much as the places the words take the reader to.
Drawing, has that power... like a great novel or a song, but with the immediacy of a single layout of imagery. Line works, drawings, whatever yo call them, work beautifully for my chosen subject of dance,....explain.
More still, empty spaces, are a 'thing' The Japanese concept that 'unfinished'... invite the viewer to imagine what fills those blanks and thus, play a part in the art
So why is it 'just' a precursor to another higher art form? It seems people largely agree it began with something to do with the time and dedication in 'perfecting' an image, until it becomes that early day pseudo camera, a pristine photorealistic display of whatever message the art carried... and indeed, paintings remain a window to a time without cameras that I believe still holds more emotive and descriptive power than a camera (dependant on the photographer) and I'll die on that hill for painters .....but, we're living in a time way past the lives and deaths of Picasso, Matisse, and the Impressionists. So why is drawing still so disregarded as a stand-alone art form? Honestly... petty squabbling, snobbery and gatekeeping. If you want to know what I mean by that, I'm happy to discuss it, but this isn't the place.
​
So, drawings are finished artworks - much like a beautifully crafted font, they are a visual, universal language capable of articulating incredible multilayered understanding and expressive response to its subjects.
So how important was it for me to make a stand on this idea? Well if I had a TV show I'd have a weekly segment for driving the griege paper shredder off cliffs and blowing it up with C-4 a la Top Gear's approach to caravans. (Yes I am a Top Gear viewer, no, I don't think Clarkson's a genius or a saint, if it's that important to you, can we get back to the arts? or at least remember there were two other presenters on that show?)
In the case of dance (and by dance I include everything from theatrical combat choreography to burlesque, btw) I believe drawing has a fantastic ability to articulate the multifaceted subject better than most mediums and as someone who painting comes naturally to, I have chosen to make my paintings more like drawings. A 'perfect' photograph is for great photographers, art has the ability to speak in a different language unique to each of us and so, 'the line' as in dance, remains the priority.
​​
SKETCHING IN CLAY - get back to notes about mcqueen - brutalist fairytale in mentioning the theatre...)
Likewise in my sculptures I prioritise finding this place between solidity and strength and ethereal poetry.
I've studied dance both in participating and watching professionals working since childhood and in the last few years I've felt this work (which began as a fun way to practice drawing) develop in to something I actually considered worth offering up as finished artwork in itself, largely because it is where I feel at my most sincere.... I decided to brave my first attempt at capturing the subject in paint & sculpture, which brought immediate joy & (with some grind) has also grown in to something I feel happy with.
​​
I adore everything about the theatre, the velvet curtain and the costumery, the sense of occasion and the orchestra... in my work though, I strip that away to showcase the 'bare bones' of the expressive ability of the body. With this in mind, it became most important to work to show the amalgamation of a dancers technical ability, sense of movement and its result - a seemingly effortless jewel of a performance that, as it flashes in the light, expresses complex narrative and emotion powered by olympic athletic strength and discipline and the vision of/behind choreography.
The challenge to capture the exactness of beautifully choreographed bodies in motion, be that ballet, burlesque or even theatrical combat, is a niche delight to which I'm very much addicted. The work has become (at times quite literally) an enriching conversation with these illusive artists, who in their passionate dedication, illuminate life with their fierce attack and respect. They've shown me such surprising kindness and support.
​
As I started to sculpt - all the while building these first sets of study - my perspective on what I needed to do started to ​run clearer like mud settling in a stream... My sketches were always working to carry the moving three-dimensional figure in their line work & in trying to faithfully capture what a dancer is doing, what they're acheiving, whilst remaining etherial & un-bound to the molecular density us mere mortals inhabit/are locked in - 'sketched' I sketch in clay, I sculpt in pencil... this is the best way to capture the wonderful subjects
.
In much the same way, I strive to discover something that is between worlds… a refined, skilled, studied art, which understands its subject, and though self-made, has prescribed and understood it’s ‘briefing’ attained a sort of self awareness and accomplishes its purpose with consistence and clarity, whilst also understanding that the subject being tussled with, is in part, immaterial (if only in its passing live performative format & certainly in its spirit/essence) these mystic qualities are equal in importance and certainly in beauty, and where it is constantly tempting to re-locate flesh and detail, i instead am working to reflect in detail those sensory immaterial/ fleeting elements .