“I stumbled upon life modelling in my first year at WAPA,” she tells us. “I did an art project midway through my second year where I was working one on one, standing there for four hours a day. I started to realise there was a bit more to this and developed an idea. For me, with a performance background, my instinct was to ask how I could make my ideas into a show.”
How do you make a show about such an (apparently) limited experience as posing? Ryan explains: “The experience of modelling became like a meditation. It taught me lessons I really needed to learn to learn,” she says. “Whether we are in an art class or a waiting room, our first concern is how we appear to others. But others will depict you in their own way, according to who they are. What you see when someone has done a picture of you is not you; they will depict you in their own style. They will take from you what they need. Here’s an interesting concept to stay with: let’s do it the other way round. What if we don’t expect people to see us in a certain way? But just be there? I’ve turned things upside down, to focus on others, and to look at how we really see them. The Naked Truth asks questions about how we present ourselves, and how we see other people. Be present. Be there.”
Ryan says that the germ of this show came about from a university project of two years ago. “It’s a cabaret show with a cheeky, warm and acoustic folk vibe. I work with a cellist, so my storytelling songs are accompanied by a nice warm sound. I play the ukulele, which lends itself to playing indie songs. I write story-telling songs in a conversational tone, in the vein of musical comedy, like say, Gillian Cosgrove.”
The cabaret involves a brief experience of a life drawing class, and yes, Ryan does undress. “I am nude for the last five minutes of the show,” she says. “It’s more nerve-wracking for people who are new to drawing to try it out than it is for me to be naked on stage,” she observes. Ryan says she’s kept the show accessible and art materials are provided for everyone to have a go: big fat crayons and butcher’s paper on the tables so that people aren’t intimidated about making a sketch.
Curiosity from others about the business of being a life model also partly prompted Ryan to create The Naked Truth in order to answer questions. “People didn’t always understand when I talked about what I did,” she continues. “So the show is mostly an accessible personal tale of my trials and tribulations as a nude art model. It doesn’t come without its moments as a job. A lot of people don’t know much about it.”
What does she hope audiences will take away from The Naked Truth? “I am hoping people will leave re-inspired and reinvigorated. And will take a second look at the things around them, not kind of gloss over the person sitting next to them on the bus. Take time to see the other person. It’s about acceptance and open-mindedness. Take note of other people, rather than expecting people to see us in a certain way.”
BY LIZA DEZFOULI
