Dancing Star by Emily Besser

wax, pigment, graphite on paper | 29.7 x 21

Three of Emily Besser’s works have been selected as finalists in the Waverley Art Prize. These three drawings were done in January 2022 in Australia but are a culmination of years of drawing which started in London at the beginning of the Covid pandemic. During the winter lockdowns especially, drawing became very important to me, almost a matter of psychic survival.

I began drawing in a new and intensely focused way. After months and months of drawing I finally found the paper, pencils, measurements, pressure-mark, motifs and colours that resonated deeply within me.