casualty – lisa arronis (wax,shotgun and pigment on paper)
greetings faceless internet
I spent the holidays cleaning my studio…house…life
(as you do)
and hanging art I have collected over the last couple of years
(long overdue)
*
there are moments between making
(obligatory holidays…visitors…stuff)
…like the new years studio clean up
(that thing you do while you wait for the return of your mojo)
where you imagine the work you might make this year
and there is a sense of anticipation…possibilities
it is delicious
*
I am curious about my ability
to navigate my new found freedom
(terrifying… liberating)
what course should I set myself
now that my course is over?
*
when artists teach you art
unbound by establishment
it is intimate and strange
you’re in their studios
you make their marks
(if you’re lucky you see this)
you stare at their work
(greedy… desperate for a clue)
you change your work because they tell you to
always seeking approval
*
all the while, I suspect
they are just hoping
that you will just get it
that you will find your stride
that you will take what you have learned
and find your own way
and make your own glorious mistakes
and so I shall…
*
“I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes.
Because if you are making mistakes,
then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living,
pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world.
You’re doing things you’ve never done before,
and more importantly, you’re Doing Something.
So that’s my wish for you, and all of us, and my wish for myself.
Make New Mistakes. Make glorious, amazing mistakes.
Make mistakes nobody’s ever made before.
Don’t freeze, don’t stop, don’t worry that it isn’t good enough,
or it isn’t perfect, whatever it is: art, or love, or work or family or life.
Whatever it is you’re scared of doing, Do it.
Make your mistakes, next year and forever.”
– Neil Gaiman
(thanks Neil, I needed to hear that)
Lisa Arronis 