Monday, December 05, 2005

Down in the Dumps
















Sorry the photos are sie ways. one is of real gum leaves I found lying on the ground the other is of lutradur gum leaves-- which are about 4 times the size of the real.Not quite sure how I will use them yet. They have been foiled which you can't see very well in the photo.

I got notification today that I was not successful in my application for the Barcelona residency. I was hoping against the odds, as I wanted to develop my lace work and there are two excellent museums with lace collections in or close to Barcelona- there is nothing available for me like this in Australia. I must say I am close to tears as I am beginning to wonder just what do you have to do to get accepted?? I know the visuals were good as a magazine recently got back to me about them and said what good quality they were. I also got feedback from Ozco - that supplies the grant- I was ranked 10th in a residency that is hotly contested and there was nothing wrong with my application- yeah great it still means I didn't get it! others that did were Nicola Cerini, Izabella Pluta, Carolyn Eskdale, and Adam Cullen. I suppose, at least one textile artist got selected that's good, but I get so tired of the rejections- it would be nice to have a real upper every now and then.I am also beginning to think that to get one of these you need to be single and without a family, or a man- now there is true blue cynicism for you. I suppose from the outside looking in it looks as if I do have lots of successes but most of them are of my own doing, like creating travelling exhibitions, and are done on shoe string budgets.

So no more work for today- feeling too down in the dumps. Just as well I didn't get the post until this afternoon- at least i got some things done this morning.

1 comment:

Olga Norris said...

Looking at the work of the four people who were successful I immediately thought that it's the usual suspects. Quilting and embroidery on fabric with no conceptual bullshit attached are seen as hobbyiste areas and not serious enough. You did incredibly well to be up there in the top 10, although that's not exactly great consolation.

Commercial design and conceptual art seem to be holding sway. They are sufficiently separate from hobby bag making, or weekend painters etc. to be seen as real artists. Unfortunately a lot of textile arts consist of gifted amateurs amongst the professionals, and this is not helped by quilts and embroidery having a huge popular amateur following and visibility.

Somehow those who are serious have to differentiate themselves in order to be seen as such by the grant-dispensing art authorities.
It's a real problem.

I'm going to a half day discussion about this very subject on Friday. I shall post a thought thereafter.