The Art of Isolation, London, 6 November 2022

To south London for my first time modelling in a shopping mall. Rising from the ashes of 2020’s COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns, The Art of Isolation is a shop unit turned pop-up gallery turned established art space in Surrey Quays Shopping Centre (upper floor). On Saturdays and Sundays, it hosts South East London Life Drawing.

I arrived early and was greeted by organiser, Rod Kitson. In the gallery room, an arc of seats backed by a second arc of easels faced a side wall. At their focal point a low wooden platform, a footstool and an armchair were situated as a realm for the model. Tables against the opposite wall held materials for art-making and tea-making.

I would be posing for a full-house of 20 to 30 artists, including a few familiar faces. To get them started I stood for a 10-minute pose, then raced through three of 2 minutes, one of 3 minutes and one of 7 minutes. Two 12-minute poses took us to our half-time break for tea and biscuits. No podium remained unused.

During the interval I saw enough of the works produced so far to tell that these young artists were a gifted bunch; and of course the more mature among them applied their abundant talents with great vision and deftness too. Before resuming, I was asked by Rod whether I would mind if he took photos for use in promos. Gladly I consented.

The second half was comprised of two poses: 10 minutes and 30 minutes. I stood for the first with one arm raised and the other pointing down. To finish, I sat in comfort on the armchair with my right leg extended, my left knee raised, left arm across left knee and right arm serving as a gentle support behind me.

I’d thoroughly enjoyed this session. While I dressed, artists were invited to share their work by placing selected drawings on the floor for admiration and perhaps inspiration to others. My own inspirational act had been to drape my white sheet across all three pose podia. Unprecedented, apparently! You’re welcome. 🙂 Hope to see you again.