Practice

For some time i was hesitant on the idea of going to get another degree. I was faced with complacency at its best. This was a trivial matter for me due to a number of reasons. The more i created and exhibited my attention was directed towards the unspoken politics and systemic limitations within the art industry. It was as if a vail was lifted from my eyes and circumstances began to align with intentionality. As an artist some of us have a way of pushing our ego to the forefront. I could no longer ignore how comfortable i had become with my approach to my creative process. I knew it was time for me to learn, unlearn and evolve. I needed to get familiar with the framework of professional practice. In my mind this meant creative exploration with supported reasoning. Things changed for me when considering the idea of professional practice. I understood this would require informative research, effective critiques and creative exploration. This would provide substance and meaning within my works. This was something i did not consider in past. I often would stick to a format or "style" which is all a means to an end. Sort like how most of us lived our lives before the pandemic. Suddenly boom, we were hit with a world-wide reset. In that time i saw the need for innovation but i couldn't commit due to self doubt or the fear of change. I believe now that we are in a time of post-reset there has been a tone set for expression with out limitation. Its almost as of its necessary for one to grow or evolve into better versions of ourselves. We could no longer look at life or do things with the intent of how we would before. If the world was changing then i knew i had to change as well. I now had to consider how to present my work in effective ways if i did not have access to display within in-person spaces. Because of this circumstance we're currently in translation and communication has become a major priority. Professional practice for me means becoming a perpetual student. I understand that there is always room for growth and with this understanding obtaining the skills and knowledge at a mastery level will provide an increase of value throughout my professional career. When i think about the systems within the art world one can argue that professional practice is meaningless. Some would argue you do not need to have a degree to be successful which is undoubtedly true. Others would argue professional practice is nothing more than learning how to do something very well and thats all the validation one would need to prove they know what they know. For me, i believe the term professional practice serves as a way to set a tone or standard within the constructs of art wether it be through the creation process or in the ways we portray and present the art. With out standards the logical of value is not measurable. I believe it is important to have a sense of value in order to provide the standard. For me i rather be understand congruity of the machine in order to allow the machine to work for me.