I have taken a bit of time off from making things since grad school ended in May, mostly just to catch my breath. This break has helped me figure out some things about my practice; what do I really care about, what do I really like to make, and who's going to stop me if I don't quite know what it all means first? I really think these are all important steps in shedding the grad school skin, and emerging as new versions of ourselves: triumphant, self-determined, and excited about the work we make.
With a solo show coming up in September at Soo Visual Art Center in Minneapolis, I finally got the push I needed to take my meandering motivation and harness it to a lightening bolt of energy (sometimes!). With a full time job plus a teaching gig at Berkeley, I am barely hanging on, but pushing full-steam ahead. No time for socializing, I have three jobs to do.
One thing which helps me actually get anything done is that I have set up shop in my house as studio one, and a little drawing space by my office as studio two. In a perfect schedule, I make use of both of these spaces, but I'm not going to lie- a lot of the time I can barely wait to go home and watch Gossip Girl. That being said, I don't see anything wrong with working this way as opposed to paying rent on a studio space. While it would be nice, and I hope to have one someday, I don't think not having the means for a room of one's own makes me any less legitimate as an artist, contrary to that old grad school mode of thinking.
Here are some studio shots from my phone of what's in the works.
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