In the second session at the Hockney Gallery, Royal College of Art, we began playing on a bigger scale.
The reference for this was costume for theatre; Bauhaus, Dada, Leger etc and Ballet Russes.
To kick off, I asked the pupils to select some paper at random that we had worked with in the previous session. They then had to quickly form some kind of body using only these papers. 'Where is the head?' 'Are there legs?' etc. I wasn't quite sure what to expect, this was something I thought about doing at the last minute, but they really enjoyed the limitations of the task.
We then made some drawings of patterns directed by instructions given by me. It was really interesting to see their interpretation of what was being asked. 'Draw lines', 'draw stripes'. 'A line is a rectangle'. 'A spot is a circle'. We created lots of patterned papers to play around with. These weren't utilised in the way I had predicted but it was a nice exercise in itself.
The final exercise involved creating surprising body shapes and working into these silhouettes with their pre-drawn papers and various mixed media.
Ideally at some stage I wanted to build on the body, but time was an issue as well as being conscious of not switching ideas too much. I decided to let them get on with the large scale drawings which made for a cracking exhibition. The little ones were so clever and cute and talented and receptive in equal measure. The whole thing was an absolute treat to be part of.
Paper, Scissors, Draw was shown at the Hockney Gallery, formed by the results of my workshop and those led by the brilliant Sarah Bridgland and Silas Money.
