Rhodes Avenue Primary School, London, 21 February 2018

As per the duo pose session with Esther at the end of last year, my first solo work of 2018 for Rhodes Avenue Primary School would be in the main hall instead of an art room. This seems to be the new permanent location, and again opened the possibility of using their gym equipment, but first was short poses: nine of 1-minute, plus a tenth that I was asked to extend into a second minute. Timing here can be fluid.

I was working in the round for seven artists. Whereas some classes have a 15-minute break in the middle, here we go right through from 7pm to 9pm, but with frequent brief interludes where tutor Rosie suggests different techniques or gives short demos while I’m in my robe or a relaxed posture. The next three poses – 3, 3 and 5-minutes – saw artists encouraged to try loose continuous swirling lines.

The last three poses were all 20-minuters, perhaps with overruns of a few minutes. To begin, I finally got my hands on the gym equipment, albeit only to stand crucifix style against a climbing frame. Next I was free-standing in the middle of the room, and last of all I was seated on vaulting horse stool making lots of negative space with one foot stretched down to the floor.

It’s quite a marathon journey across London for me to reach this school but I do enjoy the sessions here. There’s a willingness to engage and experiment with styles, taking feedback from artists, then adapting the evening’s plan to fit the mood and progress of the group. I also appreciate being able to offer my own suggestions and constructively work with their process rather than simply being the object of study. Nicely done.