Seeing Through Drawing, 2025

Hartley Library Gallery, Southampton

Drawing is a distinct artistic tradition. Haptic, physical, intimate, it is a way of looking at and thinking about the world. And because of its immediacy and potential flexibility drawing is also used across many scientific disciplines. It is used to sketch out hypotheses as they come to fruition, to visualise data for more immediate comprehension, and to illustrate concepts for public outreach. Whilst the focus is observation, the aim is not necessarily pictorial realism. Practitioners might, for instance, use drawing to focus on particular features or details. This might be drawing on-site in the field, it might be drawing from life in the laboratory, or it might be looking through a device like a microscope to facilitate seeing on another level; drawing to make the invisible tangible.  

This project by BA Fine Art students from Winchester School of Art focuses on drawing for observation and record. Students were introduced to how drawing is used in the fields of Marine Geology, Geography, Paleobiology and Taxonomy which highlight the use of drawing to aid seeing and facilitate understanding. Drawing workshops with scientists in geology and microscopy and with visiting artist Flora Parrott asked students to draw using unfamiliar approaches. This exhibition encompasses student work produced through these workshops and through their own independent study.  

Seeing through Drawing explores how drawing encourages longer periods of looking and heightened criticality, and how it is used to understand and develop knowledge. From interdisciplinary perspectives, this project seeks to expand what it means to see, and think, through drawing.  

Special thanks go to Esther Sumner, Neil Gostling, Kate Parks, Tammy Horton, Cian McGuire, Martina Stiasny, Matt Beverley-Smith, Dan Doran, Becky Garnett, Mike Edwards, Emma Guest, Fiona Nichols, and Flora Parrott.  

Project coordinated by Luci Eldridge.  

Featuring individual artworks by Lucy Grant, Lisa Babbé, Jess Moorhouse, Megan Filsell, Alice Hofman, Bethany Hurst, Lucy May, Anzhi Xie and Ana Cuenca Galindo. 

Featuring group artworks also.

Poster by Lucy Grant and Jess Moorhouse.