A second drawing session at the Museum of London today. When I got there Jelena Bekvalac, Curator of Human Osteology had kindly got out the parts of the collection I needed so I could get straight on. I had six and a half full hours of drawing which was really great. I had wondered before going if this was a good use of time, but it was very useful. In this second session I was immediately able to focus on what most interests me about the bones in relation to my work and zoom in on trying to capture and understand through drawing them the detail and structure of the traumatic damage to the tissue of the bones. I focussed in particular on the ribs affected by multiple myeloma. 

 

Examining the bones and having some time for contemplation of my work as I was drawing has been helpful. Understanding the bones through drawing is helping me not only develop a visual language for my work but also to think about trauma, being ill and what changes in my/our bodies mean to us. Being in a museum and specifically amongst this collection also prompts engagement with what are often difficult subjects such as our own mortality and ideas of legacy.

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Jelena said she might be able to give me access to some   x-rays they have of the bones affected by Myeloma. We said we would be in touch by email to sort this out and I promised to send her some photographs of my drawings too link.