Art & Fear

I just finished skimming Art & Fear and was expecting answers, thinking this was some self-help book. But inevitably, there are none.

It summarises that we each have certain issues, stories, and obsessions that we seek to elucidate through our work. This does not change over time; we are who we are, and the questions need to be answered or investigated to the extent of our curiosity through the work.

So, what are my questions, stories, and obsessions?

1. Being female in a world and family that does not value femaleness in ways that validate/d me as an individual.

2. I had interests that were not of value to those around me, yet I was curious over decades to revisit them again and again.

3. Learning obsession

4. The way objects evoke memory, emotions, time and state of being.

5. The ambiguity of communication through objects and ideas.

6. I am desperate to be in the box and trying to fit in whilst ultimately knowing I am happier outside the box (for box read traditional roles, conventions, etc.).

7. The deep love of process and the challenge of materials

8. The wish to subvert the conventional.

9. Variety is not a straight-line approach. Variousness is the essence of life and change. Change is inevitable.

What I love:-

1. The Fabric Obsession Hotline sums it up.

2. But the same goes for many categories of objects, which I have unfortunately curbed because of my upbringing.

3. I have discarded as many inspirations as I have retained. It's only the tip of the iceberg that I still possess.

4. The categories seem random, but perhaps they aren't:-

   1. Things from the natural world, bones, skeletons, shells, rocks, natural growing things,

   2. Materials which could be of use in a huge variety

   3. Fabrics and fabric remnants which mostly evoke memory or emotion

   4. Detritus from the beach, haphazard findings

   5. Books of huge variety and interest

   6. Clothes - I love the structure, the make and the worn

   7. Components of craft, trade

   8. Small items with immense value to me - the fossil rock

   9. Second-hand items - used have had a past-life

   10. Retro/vintage items