Artists in Lockdown is a series of stories by City Lit art students sharing their experiences of creativity during the lockdown. In this post, we hear from artist, Claire Parker
"Being in lockdown, I was worried about not being in a physical studio space and at first I did feel a bit paralysed. But my work developed into a project about relationships with everyday objects and spaces, and how these relationships become more significant during lockdown. I'm currently working on a series of sink drawings With support from the tutors I now feel more creative and excited about work than I have done in a long time.
One of the projects was a drawing project about drawing from touch alone. Our tutor told us that ordinarily he would have objects concealed in a bag in the studio - students would place their hands in the bag and draw from touch without knowing what the objects were. Of course, given lockdown, people had to collect objects they were already familiar with from their own houses, and hold them under a table while drawing them. This provided an additional challenge and also led to really interesting and emotionally charged drawings, for example when people chose objects they didn't like or objects that had deep personal significance.
This course has made me realise I really do want to be an artist. For the moment I am going to keep making work and try and find ways to 'promote' myself as an artist for the first time. I would also love to progress on to the Year 2 course."
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