Snail #9

I’ve been very slow in producing new art work this year. You could almost say I’m working at a snail’s pace.

It’s a very strange feeling. I sit down to start some work and then avoidance and procrastination become my two new best friends. I start over-analysing what will become of the final product rather than enjoying creating for the sake of creating. I find myself occupied with other tasks that suddenly become more important. I start to knock myself for my own ineptitude and decide that the whole thing is ultimately futile and I should not even bother.

So I stop.

A week or so later I pick it up again and have another go.

And the whole cycle continues.

A creative block is nothing new but I’ve not experienced one this long before. Usually I work it through using sheer stubbornness. I yell at my self-doubt, laugh at my loathing, and run headlong into making for the sake of making. This year I just haven’t found myself able to do that. Rather than try to fight it or work around it I just stop. This isn’t like me at all and it’s something that has gone on far too long. I can’t just keep stopping and keep taking stock of the situation. I need to reach a conclusion and work out where the next step will be.

So, like I say, I’m working at a snail’s pace. The Do Snails believe in Reincarnation? pieces I created at my Worker’s Gallery residency in [June? May?] the Spring have moved on to appear at the Venice Vending Machine Show at the Tate Exchange Liverpool. They will be on show from 30th July to 5th August. Despite the CV looking very healthy I’m still finding myself questioning the veracity of my practice. What place is framed work taking in my new creative endeavours? Is there even a place for my photography work in my practice any more?

In order to try and answer this I’m making [trying to make] a series of framed cut pieces based on my collection Do Snails believe in Reincarnation?  The first of these is an 8″ x 8″ layered piece called Snail #9.  There are ten snails in the …Reincarnation series so I’ll be working with each of them in turn. Fifteen layers of hand cut photograph form the images you see here.

I started at Snail #9 because I felt this image would motivate me. Start with what you love and the rest will fall into place… I hope. Or alternatively I’ll just stop here and avoid going any further for a few months. I would say ‘watch this space’ but you’re probably better off doing something else more useful with your time for the next half a year.