Audacity

Collagraph print workshop - taking bold action

Audacity: a willingness to take bold risks; impudence.

I realise that audacity is not something that is celebrated in the everyday scheme of things. Audacity appears to border a little on madness, and its other meaning is impudence and impertinence, rudeness even.

Having the audacity to do something that seems incredibly risky, to take on corporate giants, to be the person who topples the cyclops or a president; those are courageous acts of wonder and madness.

Being an artist involves audacity. There is a lot of risk taking, being vulnerable, going against the odds. Some public art installations are amazing in their sheer audacity of thought, conception and execution., The Horn of Africa sculpture by Michael Parekowhai of a piano balancing on a seal’s nose or the statue of Governor Charles La Trobe balancing on his head called Landmark, by Charles Robb. Both sculptures are audacious in both their engineering and the way they disrupt the prevailing narratives around the way we honour public figures and the notions of colonialization in New Zealand and Australia.

Some of the things we do as artists are audacious. If we want to make an impact with our art, we need to dream big and that often means a willingness to invest forward. Believing in your project and the timely opportunities that come with it only happen when you begin it.

As Goethe said:

“Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it; Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it.”

Many of the artist residencies I undertake require some measure of boldness, if not audacity. They also involve investing in myself. Some residencies I have received grants for, but others I pay for myself. I’ve heard many artists say they won’t apply for a residency if it isn’t funded. I would answer that the fully funded residencies are very highly contested. It is up to us to find ways to fund our art that are somewhat courageous and audacious.

There is a saying that step out into the void and the stepping stones will appear. But you need to take that bold first step yourself. Radical trust is needed as well as the concentrated work involved to bring your project to its resolution. Value what you do and why you are doing it.  

This weekend I am making collagraph prints using the hessian from sandbags that my husband used to protect our house from the floods in February. When asked whether the hessian would go through the etching press rollers, the master printer, Basil Hall, said he didn’t know, he had never seen it done before. We gave it a go and it worked out better than I expected. I had no expectations of creating a perfect print but wanted to try out something that had particular meaning for me.

These are not ‘conventional ‘ prints but for me celebrate my willingness to experiment in order to create a narrative of courage and survival against high odds. They commemorate all the people who boldly took action during the recent floods, defying the weather to venture out, to sandbag homes, to jump into boats to rescue others, especially when no government help was forthcoming. They were brave, courageous and audacious. I honour their efforts with my art.

Pulling the print - the big reveal….

Collagraph print on hessian sandbag