Dimensions: support: 294 x 208 mm
Copyright: © Helena Almeida | CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 DEED, Photo: Tate
Editor: This drawing by Helena Almeida presents a minimalist figure tethered to a dark, almost ominous shape. What do you make of this stark composition? Curator: I see a potent visual metaphor for the constraints placed upon women, especially artists, during Almeida's time. The line connecting the figure to the dark form—is it a burden? Is it societal expectation? It certainly restricts movement. Editor: That makes sense. It's a very physical depiction of something less tangible. Curator: Precisely. Almeida often explored themes of confinement and the female body as a site of resistance. Does that change how you view the work? Editor: Absolutely, understanding the context gives the drawing a whole new level of meaning and power. Curator: And it prompts us to consider what tethers us still.
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http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/almeida-drawing-with-pigment-t13483
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This is one of thirty-eight drawings in Tate’s collection by Almeida, all of which are rendered in ink, pen and pigment on sheets of off-white A4 paper. Each sheet has four holes punched down one side, and a number of the sheets have drawings on both sides. The images consist of simple line drawings, overlaid with passages of dense pigment. Each depicts the artist’s body in whole or in part. Many detail her hands, often in the act of drawing. Other images show the artist’s legs, arms or torso, or show her performing an action: dragging an unidentifiable mass that is attached to her ankle by a rope, or pushing her prone body up from the floor.
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