I don’t know if it is my crafty roots poking through, but I’ve always had a bit of a thing about art that is only about art. I much prefer to experience and make things that relate to life. I believe it to be stronger, more accessible to the viewer, longer lived.
The things I don’t like about art are the poncy, cliquey, “I am cleverer than thou”. So all the time I am talking about the concepts of touch and not-touch, and the significance of stitch(es) I am conscious of this. I realise that the ponciness is a sliding scale, and that the previous experience of the viewer will have an influence on where they are on this sliding scale. But I like to think that because of the craft, the relationship to the human condition and so on, a viewer with little experience can relate to what I make.
This is why I have struggled making digital images. There’s nothing to grab hold of, and it feels self-indulgent. Far too personal. Too internal. I would use a ruder word if I dared, If I was sure of my audience.
The trick is, to make the work meaningful for me, to have a depth and longevity, it needs to be more than a nicely stitched bit of stuff. So this is where the angst lies, and the little bit of reading or research I do helps me think more deeply. But I’m determined that is only for my own satisfaction. I read an article once about another textile artist, who shall remain nameless (because I have forgotten) who said that her work was intended to educate the poor thick people up North, who didn’t know as much about art as she did. Patronising cow! I wasn’t impressed. Although I was impressed by the vast sum she had wangled out of the Arts Council to do so.
If I make stuff that has a high aesthetic standard, and skill that shows, and that it looks like I’ve thought about it and spent time on it, that’s enough (back to Time+Effort=Worth). I’ll talk to anyone about it, however much “Art Experience” they have or don’t have. I can even do the ponce, if anyone is interested. But for the most part they are not. And neither am I. It doesn’t sound like me if I do, it still doesn’t sit well.
I am an artist teacher who doesn’t really want to educate. Hmmm…..
