Reawaken
By Lily Mae Martin
56 x 76cm
Ink on paper
2018

I’m pretty pleased with this one, a merging of my two loves – the nude figure and the ( Tasmanian ) landscape.

I had these ideas a few months back, spoke to my model who ( bless her ) came over by my rather last minute request. I had frantically sketched out some poses and I am still learning how to direct people. I had been thinking about Poussin’s drawings and have always enjoyed how the figures seemed to drape.
My lecturer at VCA, Berhnard Sachs – had asked me what art I looked at during one of my tutes when I was an undergrad, I think I replied comic books. He then marched me down to the library and got me looking at the drawings of Poussin and others, he talked to me about chiaroscuro. I now look at everything; performance, the written word, the spoken word, photography, abstract, figurative, printmaking and yes, comics and zines. I think it’s importrant to observe as much as possible, outside of what you make, like to make, wish to make.

So here we are years later. I drape my model in a Poussin-type pose and have her balance on a plastic stool I had purchaed from a bargin shop some years back. I think it worked.