Author: Jessica Buie

Installation Inspiration

Recently I’ve been looking into the work of Gabriel Dawe, a mixed media installation artist who works primarily with string. Originally from Mexico City, Gabriel installs site-specific string sculptures (I suppose you could call them that) which explore the themes of light, density, intolerance, the military, and a multitude of other themes. His work is compelling in that he turns a typically considered “low” medium and expresses complex, meaningful work essentially through presenting color gradients. Color doesn’t often interest me, but here its implementation is striking and resonant.

Dawe is currently exhibiting in Dallas, the UK, and Mexico.

What Does it Mean to be a Successful Artist?

For the past three years I have been dissecting this question, and have come up with multiple answers. It seems that the answer is dependent upon my state of mind, or my mood, or even who my professors are for that semester. Despite all of these factors, I have developed a solid foundation for an answer to this question, and it is my belief that being a successful artist, to me, means having the ability to live comfortably and doing so through making, exhibiting, selling, and in effect, living your art.

Being successful means not having to rely on a side career, or another job to gain monetary success. It means being productive, and making art for art’s sake, and not having to worry about the literal and metaphorical costs of living. If I had the complete ability to only do art and do it because it is what I love to do, to not have the weight of mortgages and bills and tuition and loans and so on looming over, threatening to pull me away from doing what I love, then I would consider myself successful.

I realize my expectations are high, and that with this way of thinking it’s quite possible that I will never truly think of myself as successful, but it is my opinion that the higher the expectation, the sweeter the victory when success is reached.