Was 2022 a good year for you?
2022 was a great year. This was a time during which many museums and galleries reopened and transitioned back to live shows, following changes due to the pandemic. I was fortunate in that my work was included in several live shows in museums and other beautiful spaces.
What were some of the highlights in your art career?
Several of my pieces have been included in the Peregrine Collection and Lunar Codex and are thus heading to the moon for cultural preservation. It's exciting to watch as the final preparations for launch are taking place. “Love haze, note in neutrals” won an award at the Wausau Museum of Contemporary Art’s (WMOCA) Salon des Refuses show. WMOCA is such a beautiful venue and it specializes in showing high quality figurative work, so to be recognized in that show truly meant a lot to me.
What were some of the pitfalls?
Probably no different from anyone else, for me the pitfalls come down to time - and looking for ways to spend more time at the easel. Deadlines for particular shows that are good opportunities creep up quickly. It is difficult to make that decision at the last moment as to whether to forego submitting a piece versus submitting a piece that I had not quite taken to the degree of finish that I had hoped due to lack of time. I have done both, but neither is ideal.
Did your art sell?
I sold multiple pieces; several were through 33 Contemporary Gallery and Artsy.
Were you included in any shows?
I participated in 18 group shows in 2022. Five of these shows were in museums, five were through 33 Contemporary Gallery in Chicago, and the others were primarily in galleries in Chicago across the midwest.
Two shows particularly stood out for me. One was “Liberating the Flesh,” at the Zhou B. Art Center in Chicago. This is a beautiful, massive space with great light and thus it is an amazing place to experience art. It was really lifting to see one of my larger pieces hung there as part of this large show amongst so many other great pieces. Second, I am grateful that “Love haze, red chair” was included in WMOCA’s “Painting the Figure Now,” as it hung amongst really strong pieces of many artists who I admire who also focus on figurative work.
Were you published in any art magazines or periodicals?
I was a featured artist in New Visionary Magazine, Issue 4, curated by Sergio Gomez. My work was also included in several PoetsArtists publications that were associated with the following 2022 shows: “Mujer,” “Painting the Figure Now,” and “Summer 2022 Pop-Up.”
“Lean,” a figure drawing I did this year was part of the 33 Contemporary Gallery show “Exertion,” curated by the talented artist and writer Daniel Maidman. Maidman wrote an insightful commentary for Poets and Artists, which accompanied the show; I much appreciated those comments that he made about my piece.
How has social media affected your daily practice?
The internet in general has been beneficial in that most of the work that I sell is to collectors that have across my work through it, rather than through brick and mortar gallery shows. I do make a sincere effort to promote via social media those shows and organizations that have included my work. But beyond that, I don’t spend a lot of time with social media because with the limited time that I do have, I try to devote it to actually creating quality work.
What are you looking forward to in 2023?
Starting that next piece is always exciting. 2023 will mark a shift in my work. I have several works in progress that are larger, involve multiple figures, and have more of a narrative nature than my previous work. These are necessarily more involved in terms of planning and doing studies to work out the design, perspective, values, and colors for the piece.