In this liminal, pre-exhibition week, it’s births and deaths
It’s a strange, strange space you’re in, working up to the installation of a show. I’ve been doing it for 15 years now and it seems I’ll never get used to it.
I guess I am better than I used to be, but there is a disruption in the pit of my stomach and everything is amplified along my nerve pathways.
Industrial scape with pink stacks, 2015, mixed media on paper, 80 x 90 cm, AUD $600 framed
What precisely am I anxious about?
It’s a cliche among art folk that it’s because you’re putting a piece of your soul out there for the world to shrug at. I’m not so sure. Isn’t it more about the exposure of your decisions; your judgements? You’re only exhibiting the work you consider fully resolved, i.e. finished. Will your audience agree?
I look at art all the time and it’s a constant judgement thing. It’s not that you judge the artist personally, but you are considering the decisions they’ve made about colour, values, composition. Those who are interested enough will be doing the same to me. In some weird way I want that; but at the same time I’m horrified by the thought.
In the green night, 2016, 15 x 28cm, mixed media on paper, AUD $190
In this week of the great loss of David Bowie, I just need to proceed, in his honour if I can’t manage anything else. What a shining example of unapologetic originality. Thanks David… I’ll be imagining you’re coming along to the show. That would be great.
