After three weeks I can finally reflect on my show. I just needed some space after all the effort.
It took me most of a week to set up my space with a lot of worrying about how to place my work in it. Given that grades could be lost or achieved depending on the final outcome was a sobering thought. I researched possibilities, took advice where it was offered, asked for help, photographed stuff so that I could reflect overnight, and generally spent a lot of time in the space just looking. In the end I got it right.
The private view produced opportunities and contacts. I think that from now on I need to concentrate more on contacts. Life after university is not going to be easy. I suspect that isolation could result in less productive work.
What is really strange is that my work already seems dated. I need to strip down my practice to concentrate on a more process-led approach for a while. For the last few months I have been making work with an end product in mind. This is a risky strategy. Now I want to try some things that I have never done before and approach the business of making in a new way. I want to try new materials and think about ways of making which are not so reliant on crafting in workshops.
My next post will be my last, just after the degree results are published.
