Mestitso Manifesto #21

Unfortunately I missed my monthly post for May, but I am here now to catch you up for June.

Last month I had my first two group shows of the year, one of them being for Asian Heritage Week and the other a figurative show at SOL Gallery.

Just to recap my last post, I was feeling quite anxious about applying to exhibit for Asian Heritage Week, and how the year before I was put off from applying due to my feelings around being mixed-race and that I was not Asian enough to be considered. I knew that this was a personal challenge I had to overcome, which is one of the many experiences that I create my art about. What I wasn’t expecting after writing that post though, was that I got accepted into the show.

I don’t think I realised how much I needed the validation of being ‘Asian enough’. So, I’m very grateful to the organisers and curators involved in the exhibition for recognising that diaspora comes in shades that deviate from the main hue. In saying that, I am not dependent on external validation in defining who I am, but that instance of being seen as I am and acknowledged allows me to become more comfortable with who I am.

I am thinking about doing something again next year for Asian Heritage Week, perhaps a personal project. I do have ideas that are floating around, so we’ll see how that fleshes out.

Something I’ve been doing this year that I haven’t invested much time in previously is entering my work into art prizes. So far, I’ve been rejected by all three I’ve applied for, and I think I underestimated how challenging it is dealing with the feelings that come up around those rejections, but rejection is something I need to be comfortable with as a creative. I’m not really looking at taking out a prize, my focus is really on becoming shortlisted to build my reputation and get more eyes on my work.

I think one thing that concerns me as an artist is my belief that to progress my career from where I am currently, I need to start building more presence, awareness and recognition of my work. I’ve been trying to do that on a local level by putting my work into group shows regularly and holding a solo exhibition annually, but I’m not sure things are really moving, so I’ve been researching and strategising on how I can do those things better.

In exhibition news, I’m still developing work for my solo exhibition in August at SOL Gallery, but the next upcoming project I’m involved in will be for charity. I’ve donated a piece of my work to Hold The Line, which is a group exhibition and fundraiser for Loddon Mallee Lifeline. If you’re not familiar, Lifeline is a 24-hour phone-based support service for people experiencing crisis. As someone who has a diagnosed mental health condition and is currently undertaking study in crisis support and mental health, this is an important cause for me. 100% of the profits on the sale of my work will go to Loddon Mallee Lifeline. The exhibition of work will be held in Bendigo at the Eaglehawk Commons and runs July 2-5 with the launch event on Saturday July 4 from 2pm. This exhibition and fundraiser is organised by street artist Mr Dimples.

This is the first time I’ve had work exhibited outside of an area I live in, so it’ll be a new experience for me.