From media portrayals of the “naked dorm” to not-so-mythical naked parties, Wesleyan has quite the reputation for nudity. For some students, baring all is an art form, one without which the University’s art community couldn’t function. For the University’s drawing classes, art professors hire a combination of student and professional models in order to give students a well-rounded experience.
“I wouldn’t want to use only student models because it is important to get different body types and force students to think outside of their preconceived notions of the body,” said Visiting Assistant Professor of Art Kate TenEyck. “My students actually make more accurate drawings of the older models because they are familiar with what a young person looks like because that’s what they look like. When you get an older model who’s got wrinkles and may be overweight, then you can’t guess. It’s not part of your idea of what a body looks like.”
The Arts Department is not the only forum for nude modeling. The student-run Drawing Co-Op, which meets on Mondays from 4:30-6 p.m., also uses students as models, though those students are not paid. The group focuses on nude drawings because, unlike landscapes and still-lifes, which students can draw on their own time, these drawings require someone to pose. Head of the Co-Op Yiyang Wang ’15, who models as well as draws, explained that it can be difficult to recruit student models with diverse body types.
“People are obviously more likely to nude model if they’re comfortable with their bodies, and a lot of those people are fit, healthy, and active, and it’s just not as interesting to draw,” Wang said. “You want shadows, and you want folds and fat. We’ve had a hard time asking people of different body types to come because it’s like, ‘Oh, we’d really be interested in having you model,’ and they’re like, ‘Well, I don’t want to because I’m not in shape.’ So then we have a hard time being like, ‘But that’s why we want you…’”
As a student at the Rhode Island School of Design, TenEyck only ever drew professional models. Upon arriving at Wesleyan, she was initially surprised by the practice of employing students.
“When I came here and learned there were student models, I thought it was interesting because, you know, you’re going to go around and see these people,” she said.
Dorothy Ajayi ’15, who models for Drawing I, commented on that experience.
“Almost every night I go out or even during the day walking around campus, people will be like, ‘Hey, have you ever nude modeled before? I think you modeled for my class,’” she said.
David Stouck ’15, another model for Drawing I, said that nude modeling is strangest when the artists aren’t strangers.
“I didn’t know anyone [in the room], and then someone who I did know walked in, and it was a really sudden shift in the way I felt,” Stouck said.
Ajayi added that the most nerve-racking part of the experience is the anticipation, not the actual pose.
“Up until you disrobe, knowing that you’re going to get up and get naked and be super vulnerable in front of a lot of people can be really, really frightening,” she said.
Literally disrobing isn’t a luxury afforded to Wang and other models in the Drawing Co-Op, although she may seek Student Budget Committee funds to get robes for next semester.
“For the drawing classes, the models will have a robe on in the beginning, but for Co-Op, we’re all rushing there, like after class or after whatever, and we get there just in time,” Wang said. “I’ll have to strip in front of everyone. Being naked isn’t a big deal, but taking off your clothes just feels so personal and strange.”
According to TenEyck, some of the best student models have theater or dance experience, which seems to help them with their posing. She explained that she does her best to make sure the models feel at ease, making sure they don’t pick a position that’s hard to hold or might make them dizzy if they have to hold it for too long. Still, as Angela Converse ’14 explained, models may feel pressure to pose in a way that is visually interesting, sometimes sacrificing comfort in the process.
“Once for a long pose I had one leg tucked in and the other kind of backwards a little bit, and I just completely lost blood flow to that leg, and it took five minutes for me to be able to feel it,” she said. “I had pins and needles like crazy. It was one of my first times modeling, so I was really embarrassed to tell the professor I couldn’t hold the position. I didn’t realize that was an option.”
Models have relative freedom to choose their own poses, though they occasionally get feedback from the class or the professor. TenEyck’s Teaching Assistant Miles Cornwall ’15, for example, will tell models to imitate a Rodin sculpture if they are at a loss for inspiration. Wang likes poses where the model’s back is twisted but acknowledges that it can cause discomfort after a while. Stouck likes the way an isolated limb looks in charcoal drawings, so he generally tries to pose with an arm or leg extended from his torso.
Naturally, models tend to get lost in their thoughts when standing still for such a long period of time. Converse said that she uses the time productively.
“A lot of times I’m just thinking about the things I need to get done later,” she said. “Other times I like to think about my creative work. Like, I’ve been taking a novel-writing workshop this semester, so I’d use the times when I was modeling to think about my work and where I wanted it to go. It was just such a long stretch of time where I couldn’t do anything else, so I could just devote all my mental energy to that.”
During breaks or at the end of the session when students are cleaning up, models have the opportunity to walk around and look at all the drawings.
“It’s interesting to see how different each drawing is from another one even though they’re all drawing the same person,” Converse said. “It’s just kind of neat to see how you’re reflected through somebody else’s eyes and talent and style.”
Because the figure drawings are often headless, the models have a hard time recognizing themselves in the students’ work.
“I like that you can’t tell it’s me because it makes it more about [the students],” Stouck said. “It’s really about them becoming better artists, and it’s cool to help out when you can.”
Wang noted that the experience of seeing oneself on paper can be jarring.
“Your figure’s so distorted because of your pose, but from your pedestal you wouldn’t know,” Wang said. “It’s a little disconcerting when you’re like, ‘Is that fold really there? Do I actually look like this?’ But then you realize it’s fine. Everyone’s seeing you from a different perspective.”