Vecheren act
6 October 2008, 22.20, Sofia
Interview
It is evening. The working day is behind you. What to do?
(Take your time and think outside the box)
Few people have any idea what Dona is offering. She provides a studio where the budding artists or season professionals of all ages come to draw the nude. These sessions are called Vecheren act, a term from the artistic community meaning to draw from the nude. This practice of quick sketches came about from artists taking a break from long arduous poses in order to relax. “The quick drawing has more expression. It’s more dynamic, and gives one the chance to let go pressure and express oneself more freely.” Dona explains. The model changes the pose every 15 minutes. Everyone chooses its own vantage point and materials: pastel, aquarelle, ink…accompanied by soothing music.”…because the most important thing is everyone to feel good” Who comes to this place? Students, candidates for the Academy, working people, professional artists, illustrators, digital artists, designers or just people who come to discover themselves.
Q: How do you find models?
A: Some of them I know from the Academy. Others find me…
Q: How did you get to the idea to do this?
A: When I was a candidate student for the Academy I was visiting a vecheren act, that no longer runs, organized by a friend .It was a great place but even back then I imagined a greater vecheren act. In fact I started modelling at that time because I needed to draw and I didn’t have the money.
Q: Is there something special that you want from the models? Some special training?
A: The most important thing is variety. There are models of different ages, men and women, absolutely natural. Everyone can be a model. I try not to interfere with what the model does because I want him to be himself. Most of the people want to draw beautiful girls but I want the models to be full figured. My idea is that the vecheren act needs to represent life as it really is. Human body is intrinsically interesting and it isn’t necessary to do something special to make it more interesting. Otherwise you end up making a cliché and this is often what happens .The vecheren act is the last place for clichés.
Q: When did you first have this desire to fight against the clichés, to peel away the layers of conventional life and ideas?
A: I have always felt this way. Normally people who are in the arts have this impulse by birth. I accepted nudity in all its meanings as a natural part of existence. I have never had strong traditional barriers and when I started drawing I became more and more aware of this sense. It may seem a bit banal but everyone is physically beautiful. You can make a good drawing from every model. You just need to have eyes for beauty and really admire it. Beauty is not a specific kind of lips, breasts, legs…I am tired of labels. It’s such a pain! As if people want to wear smaller clothes because it is the fashion. And what’s the point of that? We have forgotten that life is beautiful and that it’s due to its variety!
Q: Have you ever had silicon models?
A: I have never thought about that, but I don’t think so. I have had so many kinds of models-from extremely beautiful, I mean kind of classical beauty, to strange, kind of crazy, shy, neurotic, unhappy… I could write a book about that. But silicon…I think not.
Q: And how does a neurotic model behave?
A: It can be a lot of things… but for example he does small constant movements, I guess without realizing it .It’s very bad for the drawing people. Then I go to him and tell him to change the position if he feels uncomfortable or I just say a joke, I improvise. Sometimes there are very funny reactions. Once there was a model who took a very closed lying down pose that left one side of the room with little to draw from her back. People said: “Could you change the pose. We can’t see anything. “And the model snapped back: “you want to draw tits. Well now you’ll draw ass”
Q: And do such funny situations happen often?
A: Yeah, sometimes. I had a model whose boyfriend didn’t know that she modeled, which for me was very strange. It must be hard to have such double life…you have no idea what stories they tell. Ah, yes, I remember once an “action” situation (laughter) It was at the Academy. We had a model from a poor family. She had problems with her husband who suddenly knew from somewhere what a job she had and he came looking for her. He was so furious, poor man…He was threatening her and us…it was a drama (laughter)We hid her in a large clay barrel. It was some idiot, crazy comedy. It’s so funny when I remember it!
Q: Have you ever seen lust in people’s eyes?
A: Sometimes curious people come an ask me” What’s happening here? Can I stay and watch? I always find a way to say no politely, because these people have mistaken the place. It’s very hard to explain to someone from outside in two words what we are doing. I think most of the people who come to draw are sincere and open hearted. Sex is an altogether different topic and isn’t an issue that can be reduced to a few sentences. I can say only that there is sexuality in drawing the nude but it isn’t about sex. It isn’t the dominant feature.
Most evenings Dona is among the people drawing. She has the idea at some pointing the future to arrange an exhibition of drawings produced by the people who come to the vecheren act and to show a selection of them on the website.
Interview by Lilia Todorova
