Something has shifted. I can’t say exactly what … or why … but something definitely feels different. Perhaps it is to do with my immanent stepping down as chair of the artists’ club, or perhaps it is to do with the immanent arrival of spring … perhaps it doesn’t really matter if I can identify the what and why or not.
On Thursday I sent a few emails to some galleries and konsthalls (council funding public galleries) introducing myself and expressing my interest in exhibiting, collaborating on projects, and contributing to their programmes. I kept it brief, included an image of my work in the Spring Exhibition together with a link to my website, and an open invitation to visit the studio. I can’t imagine that any of the galleries or konsthalls have already heard of me so no matter the outcome I have lost nothing and potentially might have won something – some kind of recognition.
It felt good to do something positive … something that polite artists ’shouldn’t do’ …perhaps that’s it – the thing that has shifted … I’ve reached the limit of being polite … or at least polite in situations that do not warrant it. ’Polite’ is perhaps not exactly right … more like deference … I have reached the limit of deference … inappropriate deference. I am tired of feeling inferior, unimportant, ignored, unworthy, and unequal.
…
I started writing this post on Saturday morning … it is now Wednesday morning and I am at the studio readying myself for another day at the computer writing the 2023 annual report for the artists’ club. I would much rather be working on the new chapter of Following Eugène … especially having seen Conny Karlson Lundberg’s beautiful show ’I Kiss Your Eyes’ (Jag kysser dina ögon). His work combines historical, contemporary, personal, and cultural narratives in works that are both poetic and political. His parred down aesthetic invites engagement that unfolds and rewards as it teases out lives lead across different times and countries.
What kind of artist do I want to be? That familiar, and as yet unanswered, question rears up again. Seeing Karlsson Lundberg’s show reminded me that there are ways of be being an artist that defy easy classification, that perhaps create their identity as they the work evolves …
… so I guess that I had better get on and make work
