Nina Bellucci is a founding member of Musa Collective and has a studio at Waltham Mills. For the exhibition, Take A Line For A Walk, Nina invited Waltham artist and friend, Claire Gerard; both have three drawings in the show. We delve deeper into Nina's practice here with four questions that we've posed to each artist in the exhibition.
1) How do you begin a drawing?
I often begin a drawing by either laying down an initial color or wash or tracing a shadow or nearby shape. These are methods I use to simply have something to respond to in order to get the ball rolling. A white piece of paper is often daunting- you gotta mess it up a little first.
2) Tell us about the drawings in the show.
The three drawings in the show are part of a larger series I've been working on while in quarantine, entitled "Inside Out". Two of the drawings were started by tracing a shadow cast by windows in my home. The third drawing began by first laying down a wash of greens and blues (it was a bright, sunny day), and then laying an abstracted shape on top. Each is drawn from the perspective of being inside looking out, as a metaphor for hope. I enjoy playing with space, line, and textures, and I draw a lot of inspiration from nature.
(L-R) Inside Out, 17, 18 & 19, from the show Take A Line For A Walk
3) How has your practice been affected in the last few months?
I have not been to the studio to work since March, other than to water my plants a few times. At first it was a slight shock to the system, especially since I had been working towards a show which opened right before all hell broke loose. I struggled to find a new routine for a month or so, until I became desperate enough to make something, anything. I dusted off my bin of gouache and crayons, and cut the scale way down to a manageable size. I finally was able to get into a routine of making in the kitchen that involved working on a number of things at once, for a few hours, a few times a week. It has actually been a blessing in disguise as it's really helped me to figure out a number of things I had been focused on in earlier, larger works, like creating atmosphere with paint and how to maintain the light of the white paper.
4) Where does drawing take you?
If I let it, drawing takes me to a carefully hidden place, my innermost child. It allows me to be free in making, to be simply led by the infinite potential of the line to define and to recreate space. Especially if I have some of my favorite drawing tools (sharpie, crayon, and pastel) in a variety of colors, I can feel empowered to be as inventive and spontaneous as I want to be.
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