Exhibition by Cork artist explores movement and the body as we age

The theme of artist Fiona Boniwell’s exhibition at the Lord Mayor’s Pavilion in Fitzgerald’s Park is her evolving relationship with movement through drawing.

Fiona moved over from England in 2006 and lives in Ballinspittle with her husband and daughter.

She gives instruction in Korean martial arts in St Multose Hall in Kinsale as well as in Ballinspittle.

It was Fiona’s husband, Matthew, who got her interested in martial arts. Together, they have about 130 pupils in their school. Matthew used to teach martial arts in England.

Fiona has always loved Kinsale and the area around it and felt “pulled towards it” as her mother, a Calnan, is from the yachting town.

Running To A Pause is the title of Fiona’s impressive exhibition, executed in matte pencil.

“It explores my relationship with movement and my body, particularly as an older woman,” says Fiona.

The 53-year-old artist questions what constitutes “a meaningful and active life as we age”.

For the past 15 years, Fiona has been practising a martial art called Kuk Sool Won.

“Prior to that, my physical life involved things like running, activities I did on my own. I really enjoy martial arts, doing it with other people. There is a lot of variety in it, in the way you move and the activities you perform.

“I work with different age groups. I would say martial art keeps you fit. You can start at any level, and you adapt. Some of the moves can be very challenging, but you can also do it in a gentle way.”

Fiona’s impressive drawings have a great sense of motion. She says it would probably have been easier to work in charcoal rather than pencil, but she prefers the precision that pencil gives.

“Sometimes, my way of drawing is very sketchy. I’ll map out the entire composition or pose. Then I scrub the drawing with an eraser and draw over it. I’ll scrub back and draw over it again. Because I’m usually teaching or training in the classes, I don’t get the chance to work as much as I’d like to from life. Most of it is from videos, photos, and memory.”

Fiona’s practice is “probably unusual in Ireland. I’d say if you went to Korea or Japan, there are probably a lot of people doing this. They’ll break-dance and will do gestural drawing and have paint on their hands and feet.”

While martial arts can sometimes be meditative, “we have a lot of fun as well. You might be a bit goofy and a little bit scared. There are different movements for each belt level. In the classes, we’re all working with a partner, learning about throws and locks.”

With hand strikes or kicks, you can break a piece of wood, as is depicted in one of Fiona’s drawings at the exhibition, with a foot poised to do just that.

Fiona has a third-degree black belt in martial arts. A practitioner can go up to ten.

“Realistically, I’ll probably get to seven. From being very inflexible, I’ve become reasonably flexible. We pace it, according to people’s capabilities when they come into class. It’s the same for me, trying to balance challenging myself to learning something difficult while not getting injured.

“Injury is a part of any sport though. If you want to keep doing it, you accept that and work around it when it happens.”

The bonds that Fiona has made through martial arts contribute positively to her life.

“I feel I’ll keep going. I just have to accept that there are some things I won’t be able to do. I’m never going to be able to do the splits. And I’m not able to do some jump kicks and acrobatics.

“But I accept that while some moves are out of reach, I’ll keep trying and will feel the benefits. Challenging movements translate into everyday life such as getting in and out of a chair or carrying heavy shopping.”

One of the biggest benefits of martial arts, Fiona says, is breaking falls.

“We practise falling in order to break the fall using techniques. One of our students is 58. He slipped on ice. But he didn’t hurt himself as he did a back break. His feet went from under him and he slipped back. This could result in a concussion, but nothing happened to him.”

Not all of Fiona’s artistic work is centred around martial arts and the body in motion.

She does a lot of work for comics and graphic novels.

When she was studying art at Blackheath College in 1990/1, there was a big focus on academic drawing. “That was unusual at the time because most art colleges were more conceptual. I went on to Kingston University in London and did a course called intermedia which was very conceptual. My tutor said I was on the wrong course. But he really liked my drawings, even though drawing had gone out of fashion.”

One of Fiona’s exhibits is a lengthy strip of paper with some of it rolled at the end, suggesting that the drawing continues unseen. The drawings on it include birds and animals. “There is quite a lot happening in that drawing. It kind of reflects how I dealt with a year in which we had loss. At the same time, there’s resilience and resistance there. The birds in it keep afloat. They rise and keep going, just as we keep going and art keeps going.”

The exhibition at the Lord Mayor’s Pavilion continues until June 8. During that time, Fiona will host martial arts and drawing events, including a martial arts-inspired drawing event on National Drawing Day on May 17 in Fitzgerald’s Park.