Friday, April 30, 2010

Exhibition Postpartum

Removing my name and exhibition title: a mourning practice.  

I didn't realize that the close of my exhibition would come with a wave of depression; a sense of loss, displacement and heartbreak.  I'd spent the last year creating an intimate body of work that had previously existed in the privacy and security of my home studio, then spent weeks preparing for the exhibition itself; exposed that intimate body of work to the public for nearly four (short) weeks, then took everything down and put it all to rest.  Three pieces were sold - a wonderful transaction but one that means I hand over pieces of myself.

And now to figure out what comes next; I feel immobilized and unmotivated.  Everything I'd been putting off because the exhibition was my priority now needs to be faced (finding a job is on the top of that list) and all the while I want to keep up the pre-show momentum I had built.  But I don't know how or where to start and am even questioning everything I'm asking myself to do.  

I googled "post-exhibition blues" and found this article on ArtistPortfolio.net, among other blog entries and articles.  I'm glad to know now that what I've been experiencing is normal.

2 comments:

  1. Aw sweetheart! I guess what you're going through is only natural - but don't forget to be very proud of what you've achieved. I can imagine the lull between projects being difficult, but I'm sure you'll get through eventually, somehow. Time for a vacation maybe, even just for a day or two? ;-)

    ReplyDelete