Friday 20 April 2007

Fear of failing/falling


Today I’m having a crisis of confidence: having had some disparaging professional feedback for my art I wonder if I’m going anywhere with it. On the one hand I can’t imagine my life without making art, ever, on the other hand I wonder if I’m kidding myself and nothing will come of it. Is it enough just to keep on producing work and making piece after piece, always somewhere on the sidelines, without professional recognition? A lot of the time I feel I’m engaged in a monologue - not sure if the language I speak is so incomprehensible to others that they don’t want to engage or if what I’ve got to say is just so banal/boring/been-there-done-that-already that it’s not worth hearing. I guess there are two ways of dealing with the fear of being mediocre (having one's art criticised is felt like a criticism of one's self, isn't it?) - I could stop in my tracks and let the crocheting hook, currently my chosen creative instrument, fall for good or I could let it spur me on to work harder, wield the hook like a weapon and make my marks deeper/sharper/stronger.

2 comments:

Feltbug said...

Your art is amazing and your crochet hook is the ideal tool - don't give up hope - it is hard when you have to make work and then try and get it out there too. I love the direction you are traveling in xx

Susan Kruse said...

I really like your work, especially the hairy dresses! What we all need as artists is venue-just places to show our work and interact with viewers. But venue means space and place and these two things are so closely guarded. Anyway, you are not alone, your work looks wonderful. KEEP ON GOING GIRL!