I don’t find a blank page uncomfortable, I have come up with a range of ways to get my artwork started. Facing a blank wall to hang a group of work is another story. I just don’t get as many opportunities to hang a lot of work together due to lack of space.
My working studio is small, so for the upcoming Washington County Open Studio I’ll be in the VisualsSpeak office at 6443 NE Brighton St, Hillsboro OR.
Thinking Like a Curator
A few months ago I joined Alyson Stanfield’s Artbiz Incubator Silver group. It’s a marketing coaching group for artists. Last month I started her ArtBiz Bootcamp. The thing that has stood out for me so far is how Alyson thinks differently as a former museum curator than I have as an artist. I’m just not accustomed to thinking as much about the overall group of work as I am about individual pieces or series.
For the open studio I have a big blank wall. I hundreds of pieces of artwork to choose from. I’m not exactly sure what I am going to do yet. Since I’ve been working on personal stories, I’m looking to identify a story to show on this wall.
14 Comments
It may be no surprise that I love the white wall, the blank page. For me, it’s all about stillness and the possibility that surfaces. There is a very long and very tall wall in the office perfect for shape-shifting. Perhaps a step-ladder and a dynamic, active, and freewheeling flow of moving wall art!
If I had more time/money I’d consider making it into a giant projection wall. I could see the images layering much like the layer in the individual images. It could be very deep 🙂 Alternating with the white wall for contemplation space, of course.
It may be no surprise that I love the white wall, the blank page. For me, it’s all about stillness and the possibility that surfaces. There is a very long and very tall wall in the office perfect for shape-shifting. Perhaps a step-ladder and a dynamic, active, and freewheeling flow of moving wall art!
If I had more time/money I’d consider making it into a giant projection wall. I could see the images layering much like the layer in the individual images. It could be very deep 🙂 Alternating with the white wall for contemplation space, of course.
You could toss it all at the wall and see what sticks — kinds like testing spaghetti for done-ness. 😉
And when you wrap that up, can you come over to my place and help me throw stuff at my big wall? It is a bigger job than I ever realized, this getting ready nonsense. 🙂
You could toss it all at the wall and see what sticks — kinds like testing spaghetti for done-ness. 😉
And when you wrap that up, can you come over to my place and help me throw stuff at my big wall? It is a bigger job than I ever realized, this getting ready nonsense. 🙂
Yes, the part of selecting work for any showing is really challenging. I’ve learned to stop making new work well in advance and give myself lots of time for this part.
Interesting. I’m not sure how curators think but the art we have on our home walls seems to be hung by theme. So in the living room there are a bunch of paintings with rock or stone — some buildings, some paths, one of Delphi which is just a big rock, really. And then in the dining room there is a grouping of farm animals (mostly sheep) and another of maps.
So I like the story idea.
Interesting. I’m not sure how curators think but the art we have on our home walls seems to be hung by theme. So in the living room there are a bunch of paintings with rock or stone — some buildings, some paths, one of Delphi which is just a big rock, really. And then in the dining room there is a grouping of farm animals (mostly sheep) and another of maps.
So I like the story idea.
Good point that we can separate by theme in rooms. Perhaps I can think of ways to chunk out segments of the wall. It’s long, but also over 20′ tall, so it can make work look tiny and insignificant if not in clusters. I tried one idea where I pulled together just trees. Looked like a forest, but not in a good way. Need a balance between forest and trees (just like in life 🙂
I like the simplicity of Kactus’ idea for your showing. Big bold pieces illuminating your new work. Keep It Simple. Now, why didn’t I think of that? 🙂
I like the simplicity of Kactus’ idea for your showing. Big bold pieces illuminating your new work. Keep It Simple. Now, why didn’t I think of that? 🙂