New site - check it out!
At the start of the new year, we start to reconsider and then create the plans to newly configure how we present ourselves as public individuals. For me, 2010 was a very private year after graduating from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, finally ending the 3 year arduous quest to earn my MFA. And then almost a week after graduation, we packed up our life in Chicago and moved back to New Orleans. This move completed an almost perfect circle for me, to come back to the place that allowed me the freedom and inspiration to make the body of work that has propelled my creative practice.
This new beginning was also a daunting ending. I believe that no matter where you are at in your life and your career, the pursuit of a master’s degree places you in a constant uncomfortable state of not knowing, of never ending research and deliberation to solidify or toss out what you thought you knew, and then when your education is complete, you are again thrust into a state of not knowing anything- AGAIN- as you begin to rebuild your practice towards self-directed understanding and progress. I admit, I spent the greater part of summer 2010 in states of turmoil and inaction, trying to understand what I wanted my from creative work.
And now, after almost 6 months of research and development, of questioning what paths and ideas to keep and which ones to let go of, I have decided to turn back to a process of practicing direct knowing. I’ve spent years investing my time and energy towards input, now is the time for output. This doesn’t mean I don’t want to learn, of course I’m a curious person and that won’t ever end, but what I believe operating from direct knowing to mean is to follow more subtle pathways of information and to pay close attention to where that information comes from. This also means I want to make clothing for awhile. I want to create clothing from the perspective of really intuitively understanding why I am putting things together in this particular way, why I’m choosing this color or texture. In school I zoomed out so far, trying so hard to consider the widespread social ramifications of everything, that I now feel called to zoom back in, to really personally reflect on the decisions I make as far as material and construction. This will be the topic I will write about and document on this blog for awhile, checking in to evaluate studio process and presenting the development of a new collection of clothing.
