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Career Development
Visual Artists' News Sheet | Special Issue: September – October 2018
Bassam Al-Sabah, slide from 'Illusions of Love Dyed by Sunset', 2018; image courtesy of the artist
Finding the Line JOANNE LAWS INTERVIEWS THREE EARLY-CAREER ARTISTS ABOUT THEIR EXPERIENCES OF MAINTAINING A PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE AFTER COLLEGE. Joanne Laws: What were your priorities and expectations upon leaving art college? Cecilia Danell: I graduated from GMIT in 2008 with a BA Hons in Fine Art Painting. I was pretty young at the time, having gone straight into college in Ireland after secondary school in Sweden. Despite being awarded GMIT Paint Student of the Year, and feeling committed to pursuing a career as an artist, I have to admit that I knew very little about the realities of life after college. It was terrible timing, as the recession hit Ireland with full force in 2008 and the art market collapsed, meaning that everyone had to rethink what they were doing. A lot of grassroots initiatives began to spring up, so in that sense it was a very creative time, when artists made art without a market in mind, instead spending time developing ideas and collaborating. It’s not possible to live on fresh air though, so it was challenging, but looking back I miss some of the camaraderie and inventiveness, as well as the availability of empty spaces. Marcel Vidal: I graduated from NCAD in 2009 with a BA in Fine Art Painting. It was always my expectation that being an artist would be a difficult pursuit, but that sustaining an art practice was possible. Upon leaving college my priorities were to have a studio, to continue to make art and to apply for exhibitions. The hope was also to find a job that would afford the time to be in the studio. Bassam Al-Sabah: I graduated from IADT in 2016 with a BA in Visual Arts Practice. My expectation was either to take a break from producing art and then do an MA in few years, or to get a studio and start producing work straight away. Receiving the RHA Graduate Studio Award during
the summer after graduating really gave me a clear direction for the first year out of college. It allowed me to continue to produce work alongside more established artists, whose career advice has been very helpful. JL: How have real world experiences compared so far, in terms of access to opportunities and infrastructure? CD: When I graduated, Facebook was relatively new and Instagram didn’t exist, so we didn’t have the same social media platforms for networking and promotion that recent graduates have. I joined VAI as soon as I finished college and subscribed to the eBulletin, which is a great resource for keeping up with opportunities. I applied for an Arts Council bursary two years after college and was successful – that was a huge boost and gave me time to learn about Super 8 film-making. The following year, I became the 2011 recipient of the Wexford Arts Centre Emerging Artist Award, which progressed my practice immensely, allowing me to realise an ambitious solo show in an arts centre for the first time. I joined Engage Studios in Galway in 2009 and am still there to this day. Being surrounded by more experienced peers helped and inspired me. I got to participate in studio-initiated group exhibitions and curator’s visits. As a professional artist, it’s about having a work ethic and investing the hours into becoming better. MV: I was fortunate after college to have access to a large and long-term studio. Opportunities to exhibit were not always readily available in the years following college. I also took time away from applications to focus on pushing myself in my studio. I found that access to a workspace has been vital. It allowed me to develop my ideas and exhibition-making strategies, as well as a working methodology that helped sustain my current practice,
