So, I'm in the process of making new work in anticipation for our Works-In-Progress presentation and feeling very insecure about how things are developing. Of course I am a bit nervous about (unintentionally) parroting the work of other artists, especially since some of my primary materials are so prevalent (magazine cutouts, thread, plastic consumables). When I feel this way I've found that the best recourse is to confront the insecurity head-on, acknowledge it thoroughly, and keep working through the negative dialogue that's happening in my head. Recently, a part of this process involved a conversation with one of my studio mates, Kristine Moran. The unknown can be scary, so in this case I think it's a good idea to become familiar with artists doing "similar" work. Kristine mentioned a few folks who she thought fit the bill. Her follow up email is below- and I've included images so that I can be reminded that a part of the issue is that I have so much to learn and be inspired by. When I look at the work of these artists I feel smaller, in the best possible way, because I recognize that I have space and time to grow. Plus I have the benefit of being exposed to their work which creates a sort of challenge that distracts me from feeling bad about myself. The communal environment of our shared studio is a worthwhile lesson, too. Both Kristine and Jonathan are so smart and accomplished it can be difficult to focus on my own practice, but besides being amazing artists, they are also fantastic people with an acute sensitivity to what could be viewed as my affliction of 'pesky little sister syndrome'. Either way, I am feeling empowered by their example and am going to continue pushing myself further...
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