ART & CULTURE
Exhi bi t | By Julia Barber
Drawing Inspiration RISD student Victoria Barlay’s sketches serve up architectural interest Eighteen months ago, Victoria Barlay held two jobs in Charleston, South Carolina: intern at an architectural firm by day, and server at a local eatery by night. Her hourlong lunch break from the internship was her own, however, and Barlay frequently explored the city with her sketchbook in hand, making elevation drawings of the local architecture. One day, Barlay forgot her sketchbook but found a spare guest check pad from the restaurant stuffed into her
bag. It was serendipity: She relished the challenge of distilling the complex buildings she drew down to the 4” x 6” format of the check pad, choosing which details to include or omit, which stories and memories visible in the building to commit to paper. The project took shape rapidly, playing the permanence of historic buildings against the impermanent medium of a receipt designed to be discarded. When Barlay arrived in Providence to
pursue a master’s degree in architecture at the Rhode Island School of Design, she turned her sights to our city’s finest buildings, exploring the layers of memory, intention, and design choices that make up a structure’s facade. She drew corner markets, houses, storefronts, and restaurants, sharing the results with a wide audience on her Instagram account @GuestCheckSketch. Sketching in the middle of the sidewalk for an hour tends to draw attention,
South Main Street window gallery Photo by Elyse Major
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ProvidenceOnline.com • April 2021
