Body Stories

LIFE DRAWING CLASS

My name is Federica, and I’m the founder of Body Stories Life Drawing Class.

Each session features a sitter who shares a personal story connected to their body, identity, or experience.

Their story becomes the starting point for the life drawing session, transforming the act of simply being observed into an opportunity to be seen, heard, and celebrated.

My mission is to create a safe space where people (not only professional models, but anyone with a story to share) can step onto the stage and share something of themselves.

Body Stories welcomes:

— people of all identities and experiences
— those living with invisible illnesses
— those navigating their relationship with their bodies
— anyone who feels they have a story to share

Each sitter decides how much of their body they wish to reveal. Sessions may be fully nude or partially nude, depending entirely on what feels comfortable and right for them.

I created this project from my own experience of living with endometriosis, an invisible chronic illness. For a long time, I felt hidden, unseen, and misunderstood, carrying so much of my experience in silence.

Drawing other people’s bodies became a way for me to reconnect with my own. Slowly, through drawing, talking, and sharing experiences with others, I began to understand that I wasn’t alone.

The NEXT
BODY STORY

  • Monday 21 September from 7 to 9:30pm
    The Old Nun’s Head Pub, 15 Nunhead Grn, London SE153QQ
    £ 15 - material included

    Walk-ins are welcome if there’s still space, but we recommend booking your spot in advance; cash and card payments are both accepted at the door.

  • The session is untutored and starts with a mix of short life drawing poses to warm up, followed by longer poses.The sitter decides what they feel comfortable wearing, whether nude or partially clothed.

  • Basic life drawing materials are included, and tables and chairs are provided so you can draw comfortably throughout the session.

BOOK YOUR SPOT

Meet the Sitter

Grace is a poet, artist, and writer, and she will be joining us for the next session as our sitter.

She will also perform one of her poems, titled“Undiluted”, while posing partially clothed.

A little extract:

“Regret my decision to remain chaste
until an actual connection is made.
Curse my body for yet another betrayal,
Another barrage of opposite undecipherable emotions to juggle.
God I want to be seen,
Bare -Naked.
I want to knot to be undone with a flick of a tongue,
It feels as though my desire might tear the sky in two,
the earth might crack and swallow me whole,
everything might shatter into a million tny fragmented pieces…”

- Grace