Following Friday night’s demo with Teresa Oaxaca we asked our lovely intern Barbara to share her experience as a model for Teresa. Here is what she had to say.
My favorite part about interning at Principle is the rare glance into an artist’s creative world. You can read up on their background or ask them about their techniques, but I think that an artist’s process is too personal and particular to try to comprehend. This past Friday though, I got a pretty cool glimpse into that world—by modeling for Teresa Oaxaca at Principle’s live demo. This was the first time I’ve ever modeled for anyone and it was definitely a daunting job. I wasn’t sure if I could sit in a chair for two and a half hours, and maintain the same expression and stare throughout. Though I was a little stiff the next day, I’m so glad I decided to model for Teresa.
I remember entering her name into the gallery’s inventory and uploading her work onto the website. Then, she was just a name associated with some amazing paintings, but such close exposure to Teresa in her element made me realize that artists are normal people. They have their individual practices and preferences—some like to eat sushi before they work and some line up their paintbrushes in a specific order. I used to think of an artist’s vision as intangible, something I couldn’t recognize without a textbook’s explanation. But in watching Teresa work, I saw that vision unfold: it was in her quick dabbing on the palette, in her rocking back and forth behind the easel, and maybe even in my own posture and expression. That’s why I think demos are such a valuable, interesting experience. You get this unique exposure to artwork as a cumulative product of the artist and their surrounding atmosphere. And then that seemingly mysterious and foreign process of an artist becomes a little more relatable.
I hope you enjoyed my perspective of modeling for Teresa. I would highly recommend coming to Principle’s next demo so you too can get a glimpse into an artist’s creative process. The next one features Robert Liberace and is on May 29th at 6:00-9pm. Below are links to the Facebook event and to the gallery’s website.
Robert’s Facebook event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/1451121928514100/
Principle’s website:https://www.principlegallery.com/Alexandria
