“The most important thing as an artist is making artwork that is to be true to oneself. ” During Rózsa’s visit, she generously allowed us time to present our work as well as to ask about her work as a gallerist. This phrase was how she wrapped up her studio visit. I feel as though questions she gave to us during her visit was centred around that.
Trends in art, images on social media, the fast-paced world we live in – we encounter these like strong winds and are hard to resist falling. We might feel lost at times, especially as young artists. The discussion we had with Rózsa was a valuable counter to that – it was instead refreshing, honest, and insightful.
Rózsa’s questions were direct and attentive. She guided us to realising the core of the work – likewise of the artist themselves. She looked at our previous work in relation to our current practice, as if we are unfolding a map of an artistic exploration, one in which we discover something we are not aware of, and have not asked of ourselves where its coming from.
I was able to show my work-in-progress film – a fictional documentary of my family story in relation to a Persimmon tree. I was talking about my absence in the work. Rózsa asked: “Do you think the presence of an artist in the artwork has to be clearly visible when they talk about their family history?” The more I think about this question, the deeper I could see my own film. I start noticing my subconscious presence through the lens – the closeness to my subject, subtle words in silence. My work is intimate and personal, and as much so obscure. I am excited thinking about how I could play with this.
Rózsa’s questions led us reflect on both the making and thinking processes through which we find possibilities of how we could develop an artwork and our practice further. It was also very interesting to hear her views on artwork presentation and how it could navigate viewers within a space in various different ways. Asako Ujita.
