In-studio view, looking forward to what’s next!

Hello again, reader, for one final time before I complete my thesis work and graduate with my long-awaited MFA!

It’ hard to believe, but I’ve been reporting to you now for nearly two years and—as you know—so much has happened for me in that time. During that span, I’ve settled into becoming a Chicagoan in my own right, an artist with clearly articulated ideas and goals, and overall, just a more confident individual, poised to reenter the “real” world.

So, what’s next? This is the enduring question that has been posed to me innumerable times over the past several months. As the title to this entry suggests, for the moment I’m just putting one foot in front of the other and taking things day by day. To start chipping away at that question, however, I suppose it’s helpful to note the things I do know about my life post-graduation, beginning with the geographical component of what’s next. That is, where is next?

To this, I can say with some certainty that Chicago will continue to be my home for the foreseeable future. As I mentioned, the city of Chicago has served as the backdrop to my art-making experience and life in general for almost three years at this point, so it’s difficult to conceive of radically shifting this anytime soon.

I’ve mentioned this half-jokingly to those who ask, but I feel like I have been partaking of what Chicago has to offer with the slight remove of being a student for the past few years—with the constraints of limited time and financial means—so I look forward to finally being part of this city as a fully independent individual. The next big part of my “what’s next?” equation, my career prospects, remains to be determined at this juncture. Quite honestly, it has been a challenge to pursue jobs concurrently to completing my thesis work, but I remain steadfastly on the hunt for my professional post-graduation placement.

Looking at what’s to come in a closer scope, moreover, there are many exciting, concrete developments to report. Chief among those is that I have completed the fabrication component of my installation, which I will be mounting in a test iteration in just a matter of hours. With only two weeks left until our in-gallery installation, having hit this milestone allows me a bit of time to ensure the technical aspects of my installation are in working order for the thesis show.

Finally, speaking of the thesis show, our print marketing materials are in, so everything feels even more real now (see images below)! As noted in these materials, doors for the show will open on Thursday, May 3, with an evening reception on Thursday, May 10. It’s been a long time in the making and I can feel, quite presently, the physical, mental, and emotional fatigue that preparing for these dates has meant, but everything will be worth it to see my work up and enjoy the presence of my cohort and everyone else who has supported me along this journey in just a couple of weeks’ time!

I hope to see you there, reader!