Little Interview
Every month we ask the same set of questions to someone collaborating with us. Over the last three years, we have interviewed diverse members of the Glucksman community - artists, academics, staff members, guests, audiences and workshop participants. The responses are funny, inspiring, revealing and always a great read.
This month, we feature artist Rachel Goodyear whose work is on view in the current exhibition, A Line Around An Idea.
What are you reading? I’m (finally) reading Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler. I’m only a few chapters in and already under my skin. I’m a fan of speculative fiction, and this one published in 1993 feels incredibly close to the bone and very current.
Favourite museum? The first that is coming to mind is Dia Beacon, New York; in particular for the long-term room of Louise Bourgeois sculptures. I associate visiting there with some wonderful memories of a particular trip to New York.
Best performance? It is a few years back now, but The Feeling of Going at Malmö Opera still remains with me. It is a mesmeric experience of dance created by incredible choreographer Ben Wright with the music of Jónsi (Sigur Rós) and visuals that transported you to a dreamworld. I was moved to tears.
Most treasured possession? My bracelet. It was my granny’s and then my mum’s and she gave it to me as a graduation present when I was stepping out into the world. It has beautiful hand-crafted details of a floral vine, and as a child I would trace my fingers over it and roll the bracelet around my mum’s wrist. I like to wear it nearly every day. It’s not only a lovely piece of jewellery, but it is very symbolic to me.
Work(s) of art that inspire you? Whilst I have admired their work for as long as I can remember, the visual and written works of Leanora Carrington and Dorothea Tanning have been particularly inspiring me over the past few years and coming to the forefront of my mind.
A lightbulb moment? During lockdown drawing wasn’t only about producing a ‘finished’ work, I also turned to it as a meditation. I realised that whilst I love drawing, I had previously not actively considered my own mental and physical experience of ‘being in the moment’ whilst drawing. This helped me to explore the rhythms, and leaning into the act of drawing more and more. The personal experience of drawing was getting even deeper, and felt like a new journey. This helped me to begin working on a larger scale, something I have wanted to do for some time. Also in this meditative stage of drawing it seems my mind is also very open to listening to audio books, so I can enjoy two journeys at once.
Guilty pleasure? Dancing (literally) like no-one is watching. That and making a date with myself to sit in a nest of cushions with some cake whilst watching sci-fi.
What would you like to be doing right now? If not being lost in the process of drawing I’d like to be in some craggy mountain-scape where I can experience that simultaneous feeling of discomfort and awe at the sheer scale of everything; watching the textures move and ripple with changing light. In safe, calm conditions of course... I’m much more of an extreme explorer in my mind than in reality.