Jack # Annie Chapman 2001

This is a pencil drawing of a woman enclosed within an oval shape, made by Julie Roberts in 2001. Roberts renders the scene with meticulous detail, almost photographic, but then she allows an unsettling distortion to creep in across the surface of the skin. I imagine Roberts tracing over and over, trying to find a way of honouring the subject, whilst bringing her own vision to the fore. There's a vulnerability to the work. I sense Roberts acknowledging the rich and at times problematic history of female representation in art. It's like she is thinking about how to represent the female form with empathy and critical awareness. Roberts is in conversation with artists across time who have struggled with similar questions. The drawing becomes a site of inquiry, where we are invited to consider the complex relationship between artist, subject, and viewer.