In Basque Country
London Festival Fringe – Seven Dials Club – 18 August 10 – 20:00 (1:45)
The evening took place in the lounge of the Seven Dials club, a smart and relaxed space gracefully decorated with slightly erotic photos, setting the scene for the burlesque-influenced art to follow.
Favouring candles and soft lamps to the overhead fixtures, the Kink Ink models transformed the meeting room into a sultry den, with a simple stage at the front featuring a large leather sofa and small leather ottoman. Dotted around the performance area easels accompanied by chairs, leather boxed ottomans and tables, offering myriad perspectives. Brenda Brown provided pencils, pens, erasers, paper sheets of varied sizes and backing boards. Armed with the supplies, the prospective artists settled into an evening of drawing.
Led by the vivacious Cecilia Lundqvist, the models opened with a series of brisk 2-3 minute poses, accompanied by a slightly indulgent soundtrack of wordless synthesized tones and sweeping ocean sounds. Although a nautical theme had been introduced at the beginning, it felt an afterthought, neither well executed nor necessary. In this introduction, the artists focused upon capturing the stance as a whole; warming up to the more demanding poses to follow. The models then led into a burst of one-minute poses, with the artists scratching and scribbling furiously to old French jazz recordings. In this case, the setting, costumes and poses harmonised perfectly. Cecilia Lundqvist then reined in the pace, shifting to longer poses of five to ten minutes. This allowed the artists in depth forays into the angles, folds and shapes laid forth. The return to the epic soundtrack of before worked better in this instance, as it essentially suspended time. Every eye in the room focused entirely upon the models. The evening finished with a return to the one-minute poses of before, welcomed by a fresh burst of jazz and emphasizing the surprisingly dynamic nature of the art of life drawing.
There were three models, providing a spectrum of textures and angles to capture. Cecilia Lundqvist was the lead model and director. Dressed in a simple, flowing peach night gown, she looked every inch 1930s pin-up model with her dark brown hair in a bob and bright red lipstick. The shift was quickly discarded, revealing a sexy black and green under bust corset, black satin shorts and white stockings. Though perfectly still, Cecilia Lundqvist’s poses radiated energy, similar to that possessed by the best ballet dancers. She effortlessly presented a series of stances highlighting the intriguing angles and elegant shapes of the human body. Julie Chaussat was flirtatiously decked out in a short cream satin negligee, with a deep blue trim. Her short blond hair swooped across her face, escaping from underneath a jaunty sailor’s hat (the only real nod to the nautical theme mentioned above). Her poses were languid, nearly to the point of being lifeless. The wilted nature of the poses called for an examination of the long, elegant lines of the body and the soft ripples of satin. Sati Jhutti was resplendent with cascading dark hair, dressed in a scarlet corset and white pantaloons. Her poses appeared refined and contained in comparison to Julie Chaussat, though without the energy of Cecilia Lundqvist. The combined effect evoked a gothic and old world atmosphere.
Cast Credits: Julie Chaussat – Model. Sati Jhutti – Model. Cecilia Lundqvist – Model.
Company Credits: Director – Cecilia Lundqvist. Director and Events Organiser for London Fringe – Brenda Brown. Company – Kink Ink (www.kinkink.co.uk). Organising Company – Creekside Artists (www.creeksideartists.co.uk
(c) Molly Doyle 2010
Fringe Report 