I am going to be completely honest. As an artist, I have fears about my work all the time, and I think that's one reason why this 30 day project + sharing it daily is going to be good for me. It's kind of becoming just as much about facing my fears as it is making a lot of work. Are you wondering what are some of my fears are?
I fear not that my work will be disliked, but that it will be rejected in more informed ways.
I fear that there is always some other direction I could be going in that would be better.
I fear that I will end up making a boring or one-liner image/series of the content I want to address.
I fear sharing work that I think is good and finding out that others feel differently about it (see number one again).
I think these fears are normal, though. The biggest one for me is just always questioning whether I'm making the right thing or going in the right direction. When I think of other types of photos that I could be making instead of what I'm working on right now, I also remind myself that one body of work does not have to last a lifetime, and I did a lot of experimenting to get to where I am with this one, so I need to (and want to) see it through to the finish.
Sharing these photographs from the 30 day challenge daily is a little revealing of myself. They don't have time to really sink in before I post them here. Some of them might be really bad but I won't have time to digest that and realize it until later. I'm going to share them anyway. I think I like them so far, but I suppose I just feel I have to say that.
I don't think making art is about finding all the answers, anyway. It's about learning to ask the right questions. So for the next 27 days, I'm kissing my art-making fears goodbye and just going with the flow! I'll have plenty of time to analyze and criticize what I made at a later date.
2 comments:
Hey Kristen. Thanks so much for sharing your work in progress and your thoughts. I completely agree with your fears above, so I just wanted to let you know you are not alone. We all know in our heads that we aren't the first to face these fears but it's good to actually hear that others entertain the same thoughts. Keep going on this project! I'm impressed with your 30 day commitment!
Leslie, thanks so much for your encouragement! It truly means a lot. It is definitely a good thing to hear from others that they face the same fears. I know I am going to grow a lot over my 30-day project and am just excited to get to the end and look back on 30 days of photo shoots!
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