The Louisiana Channel has a video series of interviews with artists. One section is called Advice to the Young (which they could also call Advice for Artists). In the segment with Joan Jonas, she says, “Love what you do. Because it’s not easy. It’s not easy to make art.” I’ve been thinking about this a lot recently. It seems obvious in a way, but sometimes I find myself doing things that are tedious and I think, why am I doing this? Especially as I get older and time is more and more precious.
And paired with the other jarringly common-sense gem I heard recently in an interview with Kerry James Marshall at Expo Chicago - “nobody cares about your art” - Jonas' comment becomes even more emphasized. If I don’t enjoy the process in the moment, and I'm the only one who truly cares about my art, then it’s kind of a masochistic pursuit. And on the surface that could seem like a morbidly funny or depressing thing to think about, but for me it's actually liberating. It's another reminder to enjoy the process.