I sat in a pew, gathering my thoughts for mid-week Advent worship, and looked towards the altar. It was the first time I had seen this frontal at an evening worship service. The blue works well in this light, I thought. This is part of a parmament set I made and delivered two years ago. I had never considered how paraments would look in an evening service, not once in the over twenty years I have been designing and creating work for this purpose.
Studio Three 17 was blessed with good work over the last three years. I learned to work big. Many of the commissions I completed were large in size and scope. The restrictions of the pandemic added to the complexity of work. Plans, design, and execution were consistently larger than past work. I am pleased with what I learned to do. And I am weary.
I need to rest. I also want to digest the lessons of the last three years. I am pivoting from a focus on production to a time of rumination.
This will be rest in motion. I want to explore working small, which is currently defined as less than 31″ in any direction. I want to work without the external dialogue of commissioned work: what are the needs, desires, resources? Answers create the boundaries and the vision for the work. That dialogue is one of my favorite aspects of my artwork. I will be working on internal dialogue, memories, and visions.
I am asking, “What is the purpose of my art practice?” I am hoping the answer points me in a new direction. I am preparing to pivot.