Even though this work is not yet finished, even though I have still to work out how it will be installed, and indeed how much of it will be installed, there’s a little voice in the back of my brain yelling “WHAT’S NEXT???”
I am fully aware that this is ridiculous. I’ve not stopped working since autumn 2020, when I got the ACE funding to do Drawing Songs. When that finished, I was exhausted, and satisfied that it had gone well. I then became an associate member of The Royal Birmingham Society of Artists on the back of it. I was the first artist to have submitted a sound piece as part of my application. Of this I am very proud, and will continue to tell people for years to come. So get used to it, it’s a big thing for me, and whatever else happens, I will always be the first.
After that, I decided I needed a break, and started doing some very pared down observational drawings of twigs I picked up in the park. This was supposed to be the work that fed me, levelled me, and got me to a place where I could think clearly. I’m still not sure whether this is unfortunately or fortunately, the work that turned into the next Project, that I am going to show in May. Fortunately because it has become a body of work that really means something to me, and will be my first solo show at RBSA. Unfortunately because I am beginning to feel like I’ve not had that rest yet.
And yet there’s still that voice asking “What’s next?”…
We live in an age when artists are posting on Instagram and twitter weekly, daily, even hourly… what they are making and doing, what’s going on… what’s NEXT?
Well. I’m going to need a break. This year so far has been astonishing, amazing and wonderful, full of opportunities and meetings and conversations and achievements. But that level of artistic activity is not sustainable. There needs to be down time… slow time… thinking time…
and I’m really looking forward to it… maybe in June?
