On figure drawing as a mode of attention

Drawing isn't simply a language of representation; it's also a way of paying attention.

Through sustained observation and a series of practical exercises, we will explore how drawing can interrupt familiar ways of seeing and make room for a slower, more attentive, and more intuitive engagement with the world. Drawing allows us to look before we judge or interpret.

The course will focus especially on figure drawing and its complex relationship with the body, with particular attention to the female body. The history of visual representation is also a history of power: who is allowed to look, who becomes the object of the gaze, and how bodies are made visible—or reduced to objects. By examining the act of looking itself, we will consider whether drawing can help us question some of these inherited habits and develop a different relationship with the body. 

The seminar combines practical exercises with critical reflection. Its aim is not simply to produce a successful image, but to use drawing as a way of asking how we see, what we have been taught to see, and how we might begin to see differently.

Led by architect and educator Olímpia Solà Inaraja.

Wednesdays, 6:30-9:00pm

September 16-30

Image credit: Study of Angel's Hand for "Mercy's Dream" (1857) by Daniel Huntington. Original from The Smithsonian.