The Necessity of Self Trust in the Curation of Home
Painting by John Kotlinski. Feathers by Birds.
“The voyage of the best ship is a zigzag line of a hundred tacks. See the line from a sufficient distance, and it straightens itself to the average tendency. Your genuine action will explain itself, and will explain your other genuine actions. Your conformity explains nothing. Act singly, and what you have already done singly will justify you now.”
-Ralph Waldo Emmerson “Self Reliance”
These brilliant lines penned by Emmerson are applicable to every action taken, every word spoken, and each item we bring into our lives. As full-time artist I have the opportunity to observe both seasoned art collectors, and new appreciators as they make decisions about which pieces of not only my art, but of many other artists, to integrate into their personal collections. The most beautiful moments are when a match is made in heaven. A client lays eyes on a creation, and is enraptured by the emotion it invokes in the core of their spirit. It is as if they have found a piece of themselves out in the world and experience a new level of wholeness.
Though, there is always trouble brewing in paradise. At times, a snake of doubt begins to whisper. “Where will you put it? What if it doesn’t match? Your kids will hate it. And your sister, the one from that big city will give a full critique of your choices with her body language alone.” Upon hearing these silent criticisms, the joy on their face dissipates and they ask for a card so they can spend a few days agonizing whether to trust their own opinion. Fatefully, someone else comes in, says “Hell Yeah! Gimme that.” and takes home the prize to mount on their wall. By the time the hesitant one works up the gumption to come back and pull the trigger, the opportunity has been lost.
The crestfallen look on their face when they realize their vision for the work must be forsaken is troublesome to witness. I take the time to write this because I don’t want to experience that again. I want to see people curate the space around them in a way that is empowering. I am not for impulsive action, but I am for spontaneous admiration. When art moves us at first sight, that is enough. Truly it is enough. (I have been in your sister’s fancy apartment, and her interior decorator got her to buy a greyscale paining of a clown. Your taste may not be better, but I promise, it will not be worse.)
Your personal taste will be as dynamic as you are. Your own choices may surprise you, much like the accountant who developed a love of roller-derby. But you are still one person, and there will be a notable but almost impossible to articulate consistency that flows through your collection. That thread, is you.
Forever in Service to the Muse,
-Kelly Ormsby