Shuffle, devise, make, mop, place, rearrange, feel, do, dream ...
About the photo above: I chose this photo because this was the first exhibition. It was in January at Amsterdam House of Arts and Crafts. The exhibition series is called Buitenstebinnen. The works from left to right: Johanna de Haan, Ben Wels, Lola Schot, Marion Vandermeulen. (photo Peter Lange)
Hi hi,
Ever since I was little, I have had dreams that I live by. I think I was seven when I decided to become an artist. I could totally see it: a life full of creation. Then everything would be good. This morphed into first going to art school. With a few turns in between, it worked out. Portfolios, intake interviews, recommendations and open days. There I was in a class at St. Joost. Still a little strange. A goal I had worked so long for. Not knowing what to expect. Still a bit alienating. My goal had been achieved, and now?
At the academy, I checked off what the artist life could look like. Studied all the different options. Questioned my artistry, polished, flushed, rebuilt, flipped.
At the academy, I checked off what an artist's life might be like
Still, for now, I came to a conclusion, a dream, a goal. Something to cherish. A life where I can create until I drop, where I have time for reflection, growth and can give space to fellow artists to show their work.
So far I am fulfilling this wish. In January, I started an exhibition series in the heart of Amsterdam. Here I can give fellow artists space to experiment. In Amsterdam Oost, a mere ten minutes from my home, I share a piece of paradise of a studio with Esmée Pattipeilohy.
Above all, I am working on finding balance in my life. It's not all pomp and circumstance, of course. Still, the dilemmas and choices at my feet make me intensely happy. When I am busy with the gallery I have no space to create and vice versa. My makership is closed. The gallery is open.
A job for a living, a studio to make and a place to be able to give back to the (art) world.
Above all, I am working on finding balance in my life
Just after graduation, I took a while to crawl out of burnout. I spent the last year of college absorbing every ounce of it. Afraid it would slip through my fingers without me realizing it. Still a little more this, still a little more that. I am proud of the final exhibition we put together as a class. A period in which we were all on the same page.
If there's one thing I miss about the academy, it's the people. Taking a peek at what they are doing. Looking open-mouthed at someone else's studio. Being curious about what is coming out of their fingers. Knowing each other's practice intimately. It is also my fellow students that I have learned the most from.
There are so incredibly many different options.
I am doing well. My days are filled with thinking, feeling, puzzling, learning, watching, celebrating, finding and making.
Thank you little Donna for the multifaceted decision.
Kind regards,
Donna van Oorschot
Ps. How do you make sure that through the daily business the overarching business is not forgotten? And through the overarching things the daily activities are not forgotten?
The reader is asked for advice
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