Swan Lake Series

In 2012, during Laura’s final year of her Bachelor of Visual Arts (Fine Arts) course, she completed a series of nine large drawings depicting the story of the ballet Swan Lake. The drawings were exhibited in the University of Ballarat EYE (end of year exhibition) in the Mining Exchange Building, Ballarat 2012. After seeing Swan Lake performed in Melbourne by the Australian ballet, she created 9 large charcoal and conte drawings on grey paper, adding a small touch of colour (usually red) to enhance small parts of the drawings. However most of the drawings were left in black and white to capture a dramatic contrast, to represent the drama in the story. The moon in particular was exaggerated in size to mimic stage props and the settings of a stage, where ballets are usually performed. The drawings focused on the vital parts of the tragic love story, showing how the characters Odette and Odile (the white swan and the black swan) change emotionally throughout the story. The drawings were exhibited along with small mock-ups of ballet costume designs. Each costume was designed and made by Laura for a specific part of the story of Swan Lake, they were individually designed to express Odette’s and Odile’s emotions throughout the story. 

Drawings

Ballet Costume mock-ups