In pursuing my MA, I’ve come to understand that the work I am doing is my life’s work! It’s exciting to be in a place and time when you realize that all paths have led you to this moment, with the perfect experiences and guidance that will help you pursue your vision and dream. That is genuinely how I feel about this process, and I want to share the blurb that was included in a recent school newsletter, highlighting myself and one of my cohorts. Since I am only 1 1/2 semesters into my master’s, I don’t yet have my thesis declared, but think of it like this diagram: a three-legged stool, with my research focused on each of the ‘legs’.
My research stems from observing and interacting with artists as they craft a space known as the studio. In this space, the work of making crafted objects takes place through a universal and personal creative cycle of order and chaos. History and contemporary culture have much to say about the mess and order of the creative process. Having spent nearly ten years evaluating and co-producing these spaces to identify and construct systems that support organization of material culture and productivity, my curiosity led me to interview over fifty artists about how they construct these spaces, their habitus, their process of setting up their studio and their interaction with objects and materials in their space.
I am curious to learn more about the legacy of objects and spaces left behind by artists. How can individuals and institutions support craftspeople in establishing helpful working guidelines for maintaining legacies of material knowledge and material culture? By drawing upon research in the domestic and workspace design fields, I hope to gain a better understanding of how our identities are defined by the spaces we craft, in both domestic and public artists’ studios.
All lanes have converged, leading me to this moment, of understanding my life’s work through space, materials, people, memories, and craft making.
You are so on point, Heather. Every activity we pursue leads us to a new place of understanding. I’ve come to realize passions rarely appear, they evolve. Something I had no interest in becomes a hobby after I delve a little deeper, and then, maybe, even a profession. I look forward to what you will contribute to the practice of craft and helping craftspersons understand their immediate environment and how it can affect their creativity and production. Always the best thoughts to you in your endeavors.
You should visit Charleston American College of Building Arts and see how they helped save building arts.
Indeed! They are wonderful, I haven’t had a chance yet with all my back and forth travel, maybe this summer!