What kind of a year has 2012 been for you?
I have to say that 2012 started very badly but finished amazingly great.
What has changed for the better and what, if anything, has changed for the worse?
I had a very bad start to the year – the first five months were extremely difficult. But, the last six weeks have been amazing. I have been selected by the Ministry of Culture in Macedonia to represent Macedonia at the 55th International Art Exhibition, la Biennale di Venezia. I will be working with curator Ana Frangovska and the National Gallery of Macedonia. I’ve also been selected for the 2013 Artist in Residence, Alexandra Reinhardt Memorial Award; my residency and commission commences in January at Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art (mima). And I have been commissioned by art SOUTH : collaborations to develop a project for the Mottisfont Estate, the exhibition for which will open in autumn 2013.
What do you wish hadn’t happened in 2012?
I was commissioned in the summer of 2011 to produce a large public art work. I worked on the project for 10 months, producing designs, models, full quotations. Unfortunately, the client could not see what was happening, I wasn’t given a contract and in May 2012 I lost the project.
What do you wish had happened in 2012, but didn’t?
Everything I wanted and wished for has happened.
What would you characterise as your major achievement in 2012 and why?
Being selected to represent your country at the Venice Biennale is a huge privilege, and I am so very proud. Showing in such a high profile international context to visual arts professionals from around the world is critical to my practice. It brings really important critical validation, enhances my profile and introduces my work to a truly international audience. Also my selection to produce a semi-permanent work, which will be part of mima’s collection, is another great success.
Is there anything you’d like to have done but haven’t?
I wish the client from the public art commission mentioned [in the third answer] had had more trust and belief in me as a professional artist who can work to deadlines, believes in quality and produces unique artworks. I am very sad that an amazing opportunity was missed.
What would make 2013 a better year than 2012?
I have to say that with the great projects I have coming up, 2013 will be a very busy and brilliant year – I can’t ask for more.
