Someone recently asked me, “Where are you based?” While my first inclination was to say where I lived in northern New South Wales, I thought twice.
My reply surprised even me; “I am based on the world wide web. Connect with me there”. This is true however as I spend a lot of my time as an art mentor on zoom connecting with people all over Australia and the world. I never would have thought that in 2019 when I started my online business, that zoom and the internet would play such a significant part in people’s lives during the following two years.
What is very clear though, is that humans need to connect, artists especially. When so many live events and particularly, art exhibitions, were postponed or cancelled; artist needed to be even more creative in their responses to getting their work out into the world.
The creative arts in all its many forms responded in highly imaginative and adaptable ways - there were in-house at-home art residencies, lounge room performances, music collaborations on zoom and so much more.
The nature of how we connect has also changed and the rise of exhibitions in strange and wonderful places has become not only more accepted, but also necessary as galleries now scramble to host their backlog of postponed exhibitions.
I was fortunate to exhibit and sell some of my work in a huge re-purposed warehouse event space, as well as enter works in online art prizes in Australia and exhibitions in Taiwan and China. I know that adaptability is key for artists and as we end this year, I want to really focus on that key word of ADAPT.
When we as artists, can lead the way on adaptability and show that we are up to the challenge, then people around us too can adapt to change and embrace it. It is the one sure thing to take with us in to 2022. Getting confident with uncertainty is the greatest Christmas gift you can give yourself this year. Merry Christmas!
From me to you