A Day of Art and Inspiration: The Post-Grad Community Life Drawing Session at Serpentine’s 2024 Pavilion
- Written byWinnie Ahupa
- Published date 01 November 2024
Share story
Written by Winnie Ahupa, Post-Grad Community Ambassador and MA Global Collaborative Design Practice (Camberwell) student.
It was one of those perfect summer days at London’s Serpentine in Kensington and Hyde Park. A golden sunlight pouring through the windows, casting soft shadows that danced on the walls. Serpentine’s 2024 Pavilion, titled ‘Archipelagic Void’, designed by Minsuk Cho, buzzed with the quiet excitement of UAL postgraduate students from all six colleges, gathered for their annual life drawing session, ready to immerse themselves in a day of art and community.
An annual event hosted by Post-Grad Community, this year, the event promised something truly special: Miss Alesia Cida, a graduate from the London College of Fashion known for her resourceful and avant-garde designs, would be the model for the day.
Miss Cida brought with her a world of unique textures, colours, and curiosities. Known for her innovative approach to fashion, her work draws on years of collected odds and ends—strips of fabric, salvaged trinkets, even discarded “junk” she found intriguing enough to give new life. Each outfit she wore was a story unto itself, an expression of artistry woven from materials that most people would overlook.
As the session began, the room settled into a soft, respectful silence, broken only by the background music playing faintly—a gentle rhythm that seemed to blend perfectly with the setting. In the first series of poses, Miss Cida held each one for two minutes.
The short poses challenged the students to capture her essence quickly, to sketch with confidence and to let their intuition guide them. A five-minute break punctuated each segment, giving them a chance to rest their hands, chat, or simply admire the space they were in.
After these rapid poses, Miss Cida shifted to five-minute and then ten-minute stances. With each change, she appeared in a new outfit, layering different pieces from her collection of reclaimed materials.
The students leaned forward, engrossed, trying to capture the intricacies of her textured garments. Her creations—pieces that once might have been overlooked or discarded—were transformed into stunning attire, each telling its own story of resilience and reinvention.
By the time she transitioned to a final, thirty-minute pose, the room was filled with sketches that spoke of more than just lines and shadows; they captured a celebration of creativity, sustainability, and resourcefulness.
As Miss Cida held her final pose, a few curious members of the public joined in: two students from the Royal College of Art and a woman from Istanbul Arts University who had come across the session while on holiday.
Sketchbooks and pencils were handed over with welcoming smiles, and they blended into the creative hum of the space, adding their own perspectives to the afternoon.
After the final session, Miss Cida shared her own reflections. "It was a great experience, and I was so excited to see so many people enjoying my designs, as well as networking and finding out everyone’s area of interest," she said. Her words captured the collaborative and lively atmosphere of the day, where art, design, and conversation flowed freely.
Throughout the day, participants exchanged quiet conversations and occasional laughs, each remarking on the open, relaxed atmosphere and the model’s inspiring style. “Everybody was nice! The model was great!” one student shared, their sketchbook filled with expressive, textured lines. Another appreciated the space itself, remarking, “I like the space and the background music—it’s perfect.”
As the session drew to a close, the students gathered their sketches and packed their pencils, some lingering to admire each other’s work, others already discussing plans to return next year. They left with pages filled not only with drawings but also with a deeper understanding of how art can emerge from resourcefulness and how creativity can breathe new life into even the simplest of materials. In every sense, it was a day that celebrated not only drawing but also the inspiring spirit of community, connection, and renewal.
Serpentine Pavilion 2024 by Minsuk Cho, Mass Studies
Sponsored by Goldman Sachs
Tracing the history of past Serpentine Pavilions, Minsuk Cho observed that they often emerge as a singular structure situated at the centre of the Serpentine South lawn. To explore new possibilities and previously untold spatial narratives, Cho approaches the centre as an open space. The 23rd Serpentine Pavilion envisions a unique void surrounded by a constellation of smaller, adaptable structures strategically positioned at the periphery of the lawn.
Related Links
Post-Grad Stories
A thriving online magazine of our postgraduate student voices sharing thought-provoking experiences, practices, thoughts and articles about what matters to them.
Download the PDF Guide to writing articles for Post-Grad Stories
Want to write an article? Get in touch with the Post-Grad Community team PGCommunity@arts.ac.uk
UAL Post-Grad Community
Established in 2013, Post-Grad Community is an inclusive platform for all UAL postgraduate students to share work, find opportunities and connect with other creatives within the UAL and beyond. Find out more.