I am a ...
If you’re familiar with my social media feeds or if you’ve had a mooch around my website then you may already have an idea of my range of interests in Art. If you’ve seen my Pinterest boards you’ve probably got an idea of how important Art is in my life. And if you’ve seen my extensive Art book collection you’ll know I have a bit of a problem!
I love Art. That much is clear to those that meet me. More so than my love of Art is my love of creativity (the two can overlap but I don’t believe them to be mutually exclusive). I've always marvelled at the scope of human creativity, once we were uncomplicated creatures, content when our bellies were full and when we had safe places to rest, but at some point we began to think bigger and to think beyond ourselves (see my collection of work titled Souzou: Unravel and Reveal, for my responses to this idea) and suddenly our creative selves exploded into life! We started creating - tools, fire, drawings, sculptures - and we kept creating, over millennia, until one day Artists such as myself found a wealth of mediums, techniques and disciplines at our disposal!
I’ve never been able to settle on one particular visual art form. If I could dance or sing in front of people I’m sure I’d add that to the list of art forms I can’t decide between too! When I went to college and university I chose not to specialist in one area, instead My Art Education has always been under the umbrella of “Art and Design”. There aren’t many Visual Art forms I haven’t dabbled in. Part of the joy I find in Art is learning about it. Arts forms. Techniques. Artists. Mediums. Art movements. Everything and anything to do with Art. Sometimes I feel this odd sense of guilt - like I’m not a “real” artist as I’ve never found my “style”. There has never been a draw to one art form so powerful that I felt inclined to abandon all others. In recent times though I’ve come to accept my place as a “jack-of-all-trades” type but I still wouldn’t say I’m entirely comfortable with it. I’d love to find that art form and become overcome with it; to immerse myself in it completely and master it. I suppose in a way it feels like I haven’t truly fallen in love, surely if I had my head wouldn't be turned by the temptation of another technique? Or that perhaps that I’m polyamorous when it comes to art disciplines, I have fallen in love over and over, my heart growing bigger with each discipline I discover. If Art was in a relationship with me I think the word it would use to describe me would be ‘non-committal’! But I simply can’t sick to one Art form, I love them all too much and to choose one at the expense of all others would cause me great pain. It’s a feeling that I’ve had to accept and not allow to control me. That’s who I am as an Artist - I explore Art, as an adventurer may explore the jungle-why explore the same jungle over and over when the rest of the world and its secrets are so exciting? I don’t think I’ll ever be able to say with any certainty what kind of Artist I am. The closest I’ve come is Textile/installation artist or Applied Artist but they feel restrictive to me. And why should we, as Artists, as Humans, have to label ourselves? The most open minded, creative, exciting, bohemian, enlightened people reduced to a couple of words? At best it’s for other people, for society; at worst it’s for the benefit of search engine optimisation but I’m not, nor is my work, a few choice words in a search bar. Simply, I am an Artist. Working under the title Artist/Designer/Maker. Without pressure, without limits. With freedom to create. What Titles do you work under? Do you feel limited by them or do they give freedom? Or perhaps a sense of belonging to a particular group? Let me know in the comments section ....
