Today the 5 artists plus me that are taking part in the residency met to discuss progress, thoughts, dead ends, fears.
Sharing ideas can make ideas seem both better and worse and today I think the group felt elated and insecure and unsure in different measures. We work as a crit group regularly anyway and we are comfortable with each other but not too comfortable for a crit to be too softly softly I hope. It’s been a while since we’ve each shared our current work together and this time it’s different as we are all reacting in some way to the residency location/history/experience and within that injecting parts of our souls.
What’s clear is that to have a dedicated space to just debate, share, discuss, place work in real surroundings, is extremely valuable and makes the critic process more valuable than around the kitchen table as needs must more often than not. It’s interesting to hear how we all are approaching the same thing – the ‘thing’ being the residency. All approaches different, all valuable and valied. Some using notebooks/sketchpads and others maquettes or carrying the journey inside their heads. We are all learning, growing artists and it’s a joy to be in a creative space. It’s exposing though to share where you are at with some creative ideas but not knowing why you are there exactly nor where it is going but knowing with an urgency that you just need to do it. That is art. Obsessive.
