It was a relief to get the closing event of my exhibition at Assembly House over, even after all these years, the thought of standing up in front of an audience and trying to explain yourself daunts me. The final piece was as much about audience participation and performance. The show itself included ceramics and textiles and yet everyone always sees me as an artist who draws.
From the closing event at Assembly House
Drawings from the Assembly House exhibition
Perhaps the distinction shouldn't worry me because so many of my art heroes are also artists that thought through drawing.
Louise Bourgeois
Louise Bourgeois was an artist who drew all her life
and regarded her drawings as a form of diary. When questioned about why drawing
was so important to her she replied that it was the fact that drawings were so
immediate, they allowed her to get ideas down quickly. The reason she gave for this was that
drawings didn’t offer the physical resistance that making sculpture does. She went on to state that for her, drawings
didn’t involve the body in the way sculpture does. Some artists might disagree
with her last point, but most would support her thoughts on drawing’s immediacy
and its ability to therefore tap into the moments when ideas arrive.
Louise Bourgeois
She also stated that when she finished a drawing her
anxiety levels decreased. I understand that really clearly, as I feel exactly
the same. I have images in my head and have to get them out before they go
again. If not I get fidgety and fractious, drawing can be very cathartic. Bourgeois
also picked out the differences in approach to drawings that she took. Her
realistic drawings were done in order to pin down ideas, I presume she was
talking about something similar to what I meant when I said I have images in my
head that I need to get down. But she also talks about her ‘abstract’ drawings,
she stated that she did them when she was feeling ‘loose’, they allowed her to
slip into the unconscious.
Louise Bourgeois
It’s always useful to look into why other artists
draw. It helps clarify why you draw yourself. It’s also a useful way of
thinking about what types of art making are available to artists that see
drawing as central to their practice. In Bourgeois’ case we tend to think of
her as a sculptor, but it could just as easily be argued that she was an artist
who thought through drawing. Picasso was also a wonderful draftsman, and again
he could be seen as essentially someone who drew. It was often argued at the
time that it was Matisse who was the better painter, because essentially
Picasso’s paintings were coloured in drawings. This is not an argument that
interests me in terms of what is better or worse, but it is something that I’m
concerned about, because sometimes artists are put into boxes. Just because a
practice is drawing led, does not mean that you cant make sculpture, paint
images or work in media. Being an artist that thinks through drawing just means
that ideas arrive via that particular medium. Some great film makers think
through drawn storyboards, some sculptors think through drawing and the same
can be said of certain painters.
Louise Bourgeois
See also:
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