People often ask me if I show my work anywhere. I know what they mean. They’re wondering if they can see it in a gallery or a museum. The answer is usually no, and that’s what I tell them. I usually tell them this while they’re standing in my studio, looking at my work. While I’m showing them my work. Sometimes it makes me laugh.
Sometimes people accuse me of being greedy, hoarding all my work in my studio like I do. They usually say that when they’re wanting to buy something. That makes me laugh even harder. How many people would get to see it if it were hanging in their living room?
It has (so far) always been true that I’ve been unwilling to sell my sculptures, which limits the possibility of showing them outside my studio. Recently I came to a further bit of clarity about showing them: they don’t want to leave the studio individually, and they don’t want to spend time in the company of work that they can’t relate to.
I imagine that at least one person at my next open studio will be flummoxed by this, and will say that nobody will ever show my work under those conditions. I have two responses to that.
First: that’s not necessarily true.
(dance in the body you have, waiting to be installed at the Attleboro Arts Museum)
And second: that’s okay.
Would a show outside my studio have a wider audience? Probably. Would it be a deeper or more satisfying experience than a good open studio? I doubt it.
I have enough money, and I had my fifteen minutes of fame on Usenet in the late 80s (at this point it feels like that happened to someone else, which is just fine). All I really want is a good conversation.
also: 