 |
|||||||||||||
 |
|
 |
|||||||||||
 |
 |
||||||||||||
yesterday was our final crit. i was looking forward to it, as we hadn't had one crit all semester. i was curious to know what the grad students thought about my new work. i always take what people have to say into consideration (it was people's opinions that helped me to make the move that i had this semester). i'm not saying that i do exactly what they tell me to, but if someone who knows more than i do thinks that something is not working to some degree, then i'd like to know that and find ways to fix it so my work is overall improving and changing. there is one grad student who seems to know what he's talking about. he has never been to one of our crits, so i was glad that he was there to get fresh imput. he's the type that doesn't prance around an issue. if he thinks something, he says it, more or less. a lot of people in the class don't really like him for this reason, but i value what he has to say. i wasn't expecting what he said about my stuff. he likes my other paintings better (!) yes, the photo realistic ones that everyone had been on my case about for the first semester. everyone had been saying that they were "nice and all, but they didn't really do that much...kind of a one-liner....it had been done before...i needed to make them my own somehow...they're clinical...boring...etc etc etc". i began to see what everyone was seeing and realized that i wasn't completely happy with what i was doing. i knew that i needed to push myself further and find a way to dig deeper. i thought about it constantly and when it came to me and i started working on the sushi series i felt good about it. i felt like i was moving forward with a body of work that ment more, not only to myself, but also as an art piece. everyone who was talking to me about the work said the same about it. the profs were happy with the change and were very encouraging. so back to the grad student. i guess i had quite a shocked look on my face when he said that he liked the old stuff better. i didn't know what to say other than "WHERE WERE YOU DURING ALL THE OTHER CRITS!?" everyone laughed because they knew exactly what i ment. now, i'm not saying that i want everyone to sugar coat things for me and tell me that they like my work and its pretty and whatnot. its just too hillarious that he had never been to one crit (so i didnt even know that he had seen my previous work) but he comes to this one to say that i shouldn't have made this move. the thing is, even if he had been to other crits, there still would have been something he wouldn't have liked and he probably would have said the same thing that everyone else was saying to me all along. its like he prefered my controlled and clean way of handling the paint before rather than my looser, more painterly stroke now. i think its just his personal preferance, but it still makes me think. today i was talking to another grad student and a staff member who had talked to greg about the crit. as it turns out both of them prefered my old paintings too. i love it. i just wish that we could say things to people without them being offended. in this kind of community that is what should be happening, if we want to improve. but i'm sure that they didnt say anything because i was excited about my new work and i thought it was moving forward. the thing is that i wouldn't be offended. i WANT to know the truth. how else will i improve? i have to listen to everyone's opinions and then make my choices from there. it just goes to show me that no matter what i do i'm going to have people that like and dislike my work. its just how it is. i'm glad about that. i want to have conversations about art. i want to be developing and evolving, not just producing the same cookie-cut paintings over and over again. i'm scared about the future, but i'm glad that i have this to take with me as i leave waterloo's fine arts department. i know that this can be applied to everything i do. i just need to keep it in mind. Post a comment in response: |
| © 2002-2008. Blurty Journal. All rights reserved. |