Claudia Williams was invited to a month-long residency in ‘The Studio’ at Studio Voltaire to develop new work, lead workshops and hold a live drawing event. This residency was part of the public programme accompanying Studio Voltaire’s exhibition by William Scott.
Over 4 weeks Claudia created a large-scale drawing installation made up of new striking pen works on tiled square paper, echoing the size of vinyl record sleeves. Claudia’s unique drawing language references her love of Reggae, Soul and R&B music – including Bob Marley and The Wailers, Isaac Hayes and Al Green. Using repeated imagery of record covers, musicians, self-portraits and depictions of family members, each drawing was annotated with dates, titles and song lyrics.
Claudia displayed these drawings in multiple rows, building up a bigger picture of the artist’s residency and marked the passing of time.
Claudia shared her unique practice with participants from One Trust and Lansdowne School during two interactive workshops. Participants were invited to create collage and drawing work alongside and in response to Claudia’s practice. Projections of Claudia’s films and a playlist of Claudia’s favourite songs were also played in the space.
On the final residency day the public were invited to view Claudia’s drawing process in action as she completed an extensive 3 wall drawing installation. Alongside the residency drawings, Claudia presented a series of her ‘greatest hits’ drawings of musicians playing the piano including Elton John, Barry White and Aretha Franklin.
