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Gaze

Sian Bowen

2006

From the collection of Victoria and Albert Museum

Contemporary

Dominant colour

Gaze is a 2006 by Sian Bowen, held at Victoria and Albert Museum.

Who painted this?: Sian Bowen
When & what style?: 2006
Where can I see it?: Victoria and Albert Museum

About this work

Siân Bowen made "Gaze" in 2006-2007 as part of an 18-month residency at the Victoria and Albert Museum. Her drawings often mix layers and cuts of paper, not just pencil lines. During her stay she studied old Japanese papers from the 1870s Parkes collection. The fragile, historic sheets led her to recreate fading paper treatments in her own work. Look up this artist next: Bowen, Sian.

The story of this work

Overview

Sian Bowen’s *Gaze* (2006) is a layered paper drawing created during her 2006–07 residency at the Victoria and Albert Museum, where she explored historic Japanese paper treatments. The work incorporates persimmon-treated, indigo-dyed, and clay-brushed papers, along with vellum, reflecting her research into fading techniques and materials. Bowen drew inspiration from a harlequinade—folding book of *Cinderella*—using a replica of an 18th-century Claude Glass to study selected objects in the museum’s collection. Designed to be displayed unframed, suspended, and backlit, the drawing is one of…

Read the full account in the museum source.