Exhibitions

It’s been a long time since I’ve posted on here – and for good reason. Over the past 5 months my life has been jam packed with work. Between setting up my exhibition in December, finishing my work for semester one, developing my ideas, my research and my final piece in time for the graduate exhibition; I’ve barely had a minute to myself since the last time I posted.

It was my own fault entirely, of course. My ideas for this semester were more than ambitious, and without the time and dedication I had to put in, I doubt it would have worked out within even a margin of what I had imagined. But more on that later.

Christmas Exhibition at Denbies Wine Estate

This was my first proper exhibition and I was beyond nervous. It takes a lot of time, energy and money to set up an exhibition – even just in terms of frames. The fact we’d organised it around Christmas really didn’t help the feeling either. Nor did the fact that one of the artists didn’t arrive to set up until after midday, without labels, cards or a short summary about their work. Besides that, it went well. It’s wonderful to hear what people have to say about your work, the medium or the subject it was based on. I feel as much I informed people on what my pieces were about, I also learned a lot too: on how people absorb the images without the context; about the tales themselves, and quite often the relations they had to the viewers; and people’s curiosities, understandings and experiences with the techniques
I was using. In the end I only sold one print itself – one from the Lord Bateman set. But the feedback I received was just as valuable either way and motivated me a lot in the start of the semester. Other than the lino cut, I also managed to sell all of the story books I illustrated and had printed for the event (which can also be bought here and here). While we were all exhausted by the time it came down on the 27th December, it was well worth the effort and an overall success.

Undergraduate Exhibition

I don’t think I’ve ever worked so hard for anything in my life. The run up was hectic. I don’t think there was a day that I wasn’t doing some kind of work for it. Be it cutting prints, doors, making designs, looking at artists or planning the set up in general. I thought about it while eating, in the shower, as I drifted off to sleep. I’m sure I’ll still be getting war flashbacks to it when I’m eighty, rocking in a corner somewhere and screaming “And it was all for what? Sixty three percent?!” Though, honestly, I’m not bothered about the mark. I knew I was never going to get a great one – and not because I don’t believe in myself – but because I knew my tutors weren’t quite as enthusiastic about my ideas as I was, or that I was experimenting, pushing the boundaries of what printmaking is. And I don’t blame them, if it all went south it fell as much on their heads as it did on mine. While in the end the installation hasn’t come out entirely perfectly – down to a few small miscalculations – I am proud of what I managed to achieve. At the exhibition I heard nothing bad. The worst I had was “it’s different” and I’m glad they thought that. It was supposed to be. It wanted to make an installation piece that represented me as a person; my identity, nationality, sense of self. I wanted to create a piece that was eclectic and dissonant in places. I wanted to make something that showed all of the family members who contributed to making me who I am today. And I did. And I’m pleased with it. I learned a lot in the process. I know where I want to go with my art at very least now, even if I’m still uncertain about my life plans.

I feel like I really achieved something.