I had my second catch up via skype with Lisa a few weeks ago. Unfortunately plans to meet in Wellington at the end of March had to be put on hold for obvious COVID-19 related reasons. I was disappointed not to be able to meet in person but we had a great chat and I will hopefully be able to get to Wellington later in the year.
We talked about ways of working, both during this time in lockdown and in more normal times (which hopefully aren’t too far around the corner!); staying motivated, organised and how to continue seeing art during this time. I also showed Lisa some of the work I have been making recently.
I often feel guilty when I have a day in the studio and don’t get much done. Lisa helped me to reframe this and think about how we can sometimes use the feeling of guilt to our advantage, to stay motivated and productive. We talked about how, as an artist, you do spend time in the studio just thinking and that this is valid work too. Also to recognise that making work can be quite physical and not something you can necessarily do for a whole day. That things like going to openings are also a part of the workday as an artist. It was a great reminder that all these things are a part of my practice.
Lisa suggested some artists to look at online such as Francis Upritchard. Also to look into galleries here in Melbourne that might be continuing with window exhibitions despite having to close their doors.
I showed Lisa a couple of quick objects (from my last blog post) that I have made recently. It was interesting to talk about this piece in particular.
There is something off about this object. Something that isn’t fully resolved. I’m still thinking about ways I could make it work.
We talked about how sometimes things not being perfect can work but that it has to be a thought-through decision. That sometimes when an artist makes something imperfect but declares it finished it allows for the idea that maybe other things don’t have to be perfect. I was lucky to see a recent piece by Lisa (a wonderful necklace that I would have loved to have seen in real life or better yet tried on!) which was hanging on a wall in her workshop. She talked about how she was still making a decision about the slight asymmetry of it. It was really interesting to hear about her thought process about this balance between imperfect and perfect.
Recently my project has been quite open and I’ve been trying to branch out with what I make and the materials I use. I talked to Lisa about colour, an area of my work where I find I always play it safe (as you can see there are a lot of greys and blacks!). We talked about ways of working; that some artists need this branching out to then come back to the essence of their practice (perhaps with something new – like more confidence with colour) and some artists will stick with the same type of work (in my case the greys and the blacks).
I would like to be the first type of artist, pushing my practice in new directions at different points in time – even if it does feel like I’m making mishmash things at the moment! While I might end up going back to making work that more closely resembles past pieces, I will hopefully be bringing something new to it in the process – maybe even more colour!