Where does the time go
It's been hard to find the time to write these this year.
Mainly, my day job has been super busy. I'm actively trying to retain my job - it's a bit complex but basically a combination of my program's funding being uncertain, a team mate leaving for Europe and my own slackness means I am now just trying to really show everyone I can do it!
Maybe, in some ways, this is the first time I've been relatively committed to any job on a day to day level.
My contract got extended until June 30th which is pretty good!
But between that, publishing, making my own stuff and trying to relax a bit, a lot has fallen by the wayside. I have laundry to put away, my house could REALLY use a tidy up, I should go for a jog today, I have books to drop off, media kits to make, press photos to take, photos from a shoot last week to process, applications to write and submit and newsletters like this to write.
A lot isn't getting done as quickly as I'd like.
The reality is that when life is busy some things just take a backseat. A few times I've wondered if there's much point in keeping this newsletter going simply because I've gone from 1 issue a week to like 1 issue a month, and it's always the last thing!
But, hey, let's do a quick update
1. I recently published two new books: Sunshine (a look at the Vietnamese diaspora in Melbourne's West) and 99 Names (a challenge to the criminalisation of homosexuality in some Arabic countries). They are both great.
2. I was at a book fair for the first time in ages. It was so good. We sold many books and I had a blast. I am still learning a lot but I am getting closer to feeling like publishing could begin to pay the bills a bit more. I have another coming in May and then I hope to be in the USA for another in July :)
3. I was on a podcast, I'm actually quite happy with how it came out. It's a little bit nerdy, so for the art fans that aren't art makers I honestly don't know how interesting it'll be, but I reckon go give it a shot. It's also on spotify etc.
4. I've been working with some botanists and plant historians on a participatory art project where we lead communities to understand the plant life very close to where they live, I hope that the first iteration will be ready later this year. I'm really hoping to make this a format that I can run in many parts of the country, at galleries, with gardens and with councils.
5. I've been meeting with a range of curators to hopefully get some BIG shows going in 2025. I'll have a new big thing ready to launch so it's a slog meeting loads of people but I am enjoying it and hoping I can get there and confirm a few things to really work towards. These are interesting conversations and a mix of vindicating and saddening, just because you're knocking on a lot of doors and getting, at best, tentative support. However, a few curators have been really keen on the stuff I've been making with Dingoes and the installations I've been prototyping, so I hope that one or two come through :)
6. I've been working out what a life without working for someone else looks like. It's a bit scary, and there's plenty of unknowns, but really I think the job I have now will be my last one (for a while at least!), I'm not quite ready to quit and be an artist/publisher - but I think by this time next year I certainly will be :). It's really difficult to explain apart from the say the older I am the less I want to work for others and be constrained by some of the things that workplaces have. I deeply love having control over my day to day life, which usually just involves going for an extra walk, running an extra errand or sitting quietly. I'm hoping I can continue to build up my art and publishing this year to get to the point where I think 'shit I can make minimum wage with that'.
I hope you're all well - if there's anything you'd like me to tell you more about from that list let me know and I'll try and make a newsletter about it.