As
a visual artist, for me the studio is a place not just for making, but also for
thinking. Artist William Kentridge, in his lecture A Natural History of the Studio (2012), suggests:
'the construction of the meaning of the different works which are made by all artists is the product of the activity, the physical activity, that happens within the studio...'.
'the construction of the meaning of the different works which are made by all artists is the product of the activity, the physical activity, that happens within the studio...'.
William Kentridge 2012
Kentridge refers to walking in the studio while making animations;
between the wall (where he draws) and the camera (where he stands back, to
photograph the work). For Kentridge it is during this walk that his thinking is
done, and he suggests that this has implications of two selves located in the
space: the ‘artist’, and the ‘critic’. 
This is a process familiar to me as a painter; one stands by the canvas to apply the paint, and must stride away at regular intervals to take stock, survey the work. Even in my pristine High Cross Studio, I found myself repeating this walking process to arrange and re-arrange the many drawings and notes that I had pinned on the wall of my studio opposite my desk.
As a walking artist I have long known that walking is an excellent tool for thinking, and I had been considering for sometime the implications of time, space and multiple selves : me here/now, me there/then.
The tensions between these selves may be seen rendered visible when we look back at our tracks, our footprints on the ground.
However, it is only recently that I have come to understand that physical movement is also potentially an important part of the process within the confines of the studio.
Kentridge discusses 'circling the studio' and suggests that there is a
sense of procrastination and failure tied in with this prowling back and forth, which is actually
a useful part of the thinking process: the ideas are forming and the making is imminent.
