During the summer, I worked the remainder of my former graduate assistant position as more of a contract worker. The job is very easy going, giving me plenty of time to think over art and future projects. I haven’t had time to start fresh work, but I’ve contemplated (perhaps too much) the next steps for the future artwork.
Having a website with a site tracker, I keep record of what pages, posts and images people visit. Despite the push and pull graduate school gave me, the two pieces that continually receive the most attention are The Wound and The Swarm:
vs.
I’m not sure how I feel in response. They’re my first pieces done at MCAD and yet I was more or less bashed for the illustrative qualities of the work. But this is the work that has been the most successful outside of school for reasons other than the “Lowbrow” or “Juxtapoz” connection (always a slight cringe now whenever I hear that comparison). One the prevalent comments I receive about the newer work is that, while the new series is great, people have a hard time “remembering” the art, or perhaps specifics about the work fail to stick on the forefront of their minds. This feedback is somewhat frustrating and not easily resolved.
Revisiting the subject of the summer job, one of my former critique teachers visited and inquired about my post-graduation life. When I told her of my lack of motivation on art-making, she replied that it’s my “recovery period.” It’s normal… I suppose. I remembered this recovery period previously mentioned by other MCAD MFA alumni and younger art professors. The recovery period estimates taking half to equal the time spent in school. If the theory is right, I hit back into my studio stride within the 1-2 year mark. That’s reasonable…if it’s a guarantee… but I get anxious, fearing that time’s passing creates more difficulty for the eventual return to the studio.
I’ve started to map out plans for research and lists of what I want to incorporate visually. Sometimes when I feel stuck in my studio, I backtrack my steps in order to explore alternative routes. I contemplate previous prints/drawings in relation to current studies.
What elements in The Wound/Swarm need to be reexamined in future works? What technical/narrative aspects succeeded in those images that I neglected to include in recent series? I sense that the new series needs to merge the strengths of the earlier works with current strengths in an attempt to pare the re-occuring weaknesses. Time to reflect and research for future visual study.
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bridget added these pithy words on Aug 17 10 at 9:03 ammy recovery period turned into a “never making art again, lets update and refinish old furniture instead!” period. I couldn’t make art again if I tried, I’m so out of practice. Keep up the sketching in the meantime. Don’t get rusty like me.
