September progress update: Steps Repeat
Reimagined, and going dandy
Hello lovely human beings. I hope your summer is going well, that you’ve found moments of calm and moments of excitement.
My studio time lately has brought me both. It’s felt easier than ever to regularly go into my garage, sequester myself among bent and cut bits of steel, and let my imagination take form in three dimensions.
There’s no denying you and your art are in a relationship. Sometimes that relationship has a lot of tension, a lot of guilt or obligation wrapped up in it. Sometimes you let the outside world get in and it changes how you look at your craft.
Looking at it as a relationship that has boundaries and needs and deserves respect has helped me get to a really good place with it. I’m able to take time away and listen to my body and my mind and not create because I feel I have to.
Holding onto play as an essential aspect of artmaking is really what keeps it enjoyable. I think it shows in the art when you’re having fun (and it shows when you’ve struggled through the process as well).
Artmaking is slow — especially sculpture, and especially with as detailed and meticulous a piece as Steps Repeat has become.
But the slowness has reminded me that all progress is slow, and sometimes it’s so slow it’s invisible and you don’t even realize how much you’ve grown and changed until you compare to where you were/who you were a year ago.
It’s worth investing in something that brings you fulfillment, even if it’s only 30, 45, 60 minutes a day. Little steps are better than no steps. And it’s not about productiveness or hitting goals. It’s about allowing yourself time to do something that brings you joy, that makes you feel full and real and present.
As a reminder, this piece is a completely different beast to how I first imagined it. I was able to make a huge pivot so that I could see my idea come to life but execute it in a way that is, well, cooler.
It was worth not following through with my initial idea out of made-up obligation. I’ve given this idea a chance to transform (which will act as a reminder to myself that it’s okay to change, that you don’t have to hold on so tight, that what’s meant to stay will stick around or come back to you and what’s meant to go, let go).
