“Any artist will tell you he’s really only interested in the stuff he’s doing now. He will, always. It’s true, and it should be like that”
– David Hockney
What about you? Are you only interested in the work you are currently involved with? Or do you tend to look back on older work? Do you ever feel the work you created in the past is stronger or better work than the work you are presently engaged in?
Do you cherish your older work in such a way that you have a hard time selling it because of your attachment to it?
How does this impact your getting your work out into the world? Do you ever delay sending out work because the next body of work will be even better?
Let’s get the conversation started! Please leave your comments below.
I am most interested in the work I do now, but I still value, learn from and appreciate the work I did in the past. The one thing I would say for any artist’s practice is there is no “should”, no “should be”. What matters is to do what best supports each person’s practice, and the particulars of that can be as different as each artist, though we can share much too. Past work, especially roads explored but not taken, can have new validity and meaning in the present and also lead to new work.
Michelle – I so appreciate your statement here: ‘for any artist’s practice is there is no “should”, no “should be”.’
Thank you for keeping the door open for us all to have our individual experience of the work, our practice and our relationship to it.
I don’t agree that we are only interested in the current work. When we are creating the work we are in the totally subjective mode. One can’t possibly “know it” until you are in the objective mode. Then you can see it for what it is as separate from you. This often takes a long time to accomplish as our work does not reveal it’s secrets all at once. I often find my older work very nourishing as I have a chance to live with it and “re-view” it over time. Exhibitions are really useful in this regard. Awhile ago I exhibited a painting from at least 30 years ago and was enriched by the experience of it as “other” and how it held up after all this painting history had passed by in-between. Our work still has the possibility of surprise at any time one views it anew.
I, too, have had the experience many times over the years of not fully understanding a work until years have passed by. Then, I see what it was about when it had only been a compelling image and process to me during making it. I love that you got to share a painting recently from decades past and experience it afresh.
Craig, I like your comment “Our work still has the possibility of surprise at any time one views it.” I’ve recently painted my childhood homeplace; when I think it’s almost completed, I set it inside a frame on an easel and for days as I walk past it, I see areas where I can improve-a shading or highlight or glaze here and there. I found that is a new way for me to improve my work, and also when others come to my studio and rave about it, I know it’s almost finished.
I will keep my first painting but I think the rest of them, so far, will be available for sale at my art show in April. There is a local old-school coffee shop that hosts local artist’s work. There is only one artist featured per month and the shop takes no commisions. I was inspired to show my work after I got very positive feedback from several sources. Until my art show my paintings are living on the walls of my apartment so I get to enjoy them while they tell me their stories until they go to someone else to tell them their story.
So pleased for you that you are taking that step to having your first exhibition and that you have been buoyed by the positive feedback you have received. It is a wonderful thing to share one’s work with others.
It’s interesting that this came up just as I got out several unfinished paintings and started planning my work. I think I can stay in touch with several levels of my creative process, but that’s just how my brain works. More female that the high focus of the male brain. Both a wonderful, both are unique.
Happy 2013
Happy 2013 to you, Jain and I really appreciate learning of your relationship to your works and how your brain works!
My body of work is like the sands of time through an hour glass and each piece I make is one grain added to the growing mound. The falling movement of the grain is like inspiration and expression, and that is my most important work right now, however each piece is part of a greater whole and when I pass from this world it is the fulcrum of my work which will remain and important periods will be determined by art collectors and art historians- No? 🙂
As for getting my work out there, baby steps,as a person who has the ability to copy just about any style, it has been difficult to uncover that style/technique for which I will become known historically.
Each year I come a little closer to that style. Art collectors/gallery owners, like publishers want artists who are consistant and productive for mainstream sales.
I confess that I have not done the door knocking to get my work represented by galleries yet- for now it is private sales.
I am always so into what art I am making that I forget what I have done. I will stumble upon art I made several years ago to always be astonished at what I made then and that that work is so far from my current memory.
I feel that sometimes my work, the painting I made today, is not the same or equal to the work I made 10 or 20 years ago. I guess I can say each art work is different not matter when I made it.
This month, I am ending a relationship with a gallery that I sold art at for three years. I am exploring different venues but I have not established new venues yet.
Ultimately I desire to have my art always reside in new homes.
I agree with Hockney that I’m only interested in making the work I do now. There’s something about current work that has a hold on me, in terms of the making aspect, and I’m not interested in going back and addressing the same things I did in past work.
I have a lot of older work hanging in my house, and my relationship with it is complex because sometimes it influences me to re-address things I have put to rest, yet at the same time I really cherish it, especially if I’ve gotten positive feedback on it. In other words, I feel like sometimes it prevents me from growing, yet at other times I enjoy feeling nostalgic about it.
I have a horrible time selling my art that is on paper or canvas. Jewelry or fabric not so much. Somehow the images on paper feel like they are a part of my soul.