Life is not always straight forward

 

Mickey lives with her son and her dog in Auckland, New Zealand and has reached a time in her life where she is asking herself some pretty serious questions. 

 

"Just give me five minutes” she said; wanting to settle her ten year old son in front the telly before being able to concentrate on our conversation. Mickey is one of those forces of nature, a woman naturally capable and efficient, but with a strength of kindness. Life has dealt her with challenges that makes her stories very interesting to me, but I am aware that too much curiosity could cause a vulnerability that maybe right now, Mickey could do well without. 

 

Her artistic practice has been engaged with a longstanding enquiry into libraries, books and archives and in particular the social significance of their physical existence or disappearance. She received a BA in Photography in Minnesota State University Moorhead in 1994 and has exhibited across the world; she has received several awards and spent some of her happiest years listening to her inner artistic voice, living the dream by being an artist and earning money from it. So why is this woman in a state of flux? 

 

The moment she left school, 30 years ago, Mickey worked in galleries and museums. As a young artist her need to make some money pulled her into the world of arts administration; a decade spent, as a young female involved in the management of large arts organisations. "At 28, I worked for Arts International, I was running panel meetings, organising public funding, co-ordinating funding for six regional funding areas in the USA, running conferences; doing all of this at such a young age.” Quite possibly this had become an excellent foundation for the success of Mickey’s future, but at the time she was constantly realising that she was drifting further and further away from the artist she wanted to be. 

 

 

It was at one of these conferences that Mickey was organising, that she heard an artist speak of her career turn from lawyer to artist. A life changing moment for Mickey and a defined chapter where she realised that she had to concentrate on her photography. She agrees that her management knowledge alongside her artistic ventures, assisted her along with her success: "It’s helped me to understand how to write grants, work with design and advertising and I have learned to create and design my own work and create it as a brand, so everything I have done doesn’t change the content of my work; but I am a more successful artist because of that experience”. But, twenty years on, after working purely as an artist, she has hit another crossroads.

 

"My husband died two years ago; he wasn’t just my husband, he was also my creative partner. When we lived in New York I was doing profitable work. But together we moved to New Zealand, and now I am now wondering whether I can be an artist on my own. So many artists have partners who support them. I now have to raise my son alone and I can’t go from piece to piece. I might have to pull back and work commercially and work in a very different way.”

 

 

But, compromise and re-thinking has led Mickey to question the importance of money and try and analyse the consequences of becoming a different type of artist, "if I go commercial, maybe galleries won’t like me anymore,” a fear of changing relationships she has built over the years and expectations from her audiences, "I had my son when I was 37. I have not been as prolific since having my child and collectors seem to recognise this; it’s hard not to fall off the radar”. She discusses the seemingly archaic attitude of collectors towards artists who are parents and she and I discuss, suggesting how unlikely this should be in this day and age; but she acknowledges that indeed she has been in the firing line and realises that her professional artist’s life has taken a large shift. She explains that she is looking at different models of surviving as an artist, working commercially alongside her work, or developing her jewellery design and making - a more recent and very new string to her bow. "Whatever I do next artistically, it has to be global. New Zealand is so small; but it is important to me to be accepted as an artist in New Zealand, as it’s my home. I like selling work, it matters to me, I like that my art is being consumed.”

 

 

When looking back at her career there is a recognition of stepping stones "In the beginning I was going to be a photographer, then I realised I like working on large scale installations and then I realised I was a good writer. I recognise I have a lot of tools in my belt and now, as a 47 year old artist, I realise that my wellbeing is usually down to my work constantly evolving and changing. I am surprised every day at everything that I have done.” She talks of being able to identify what brings happiness in work, and how for her, it used to be artist residencies, a happy place where she was always able to produce her best work. But, her knowledge that such opportunities are now not as accessible to her, because of commitments at home, has forced her to re-focus where she finds her wellbeing. "I am very good at over administrating myself, I am re-training myself to straighten out my priorities again, being back at school, learning jewellery making and design, is helping me. I am trying to make sure that the first half of my day is creating; an hour a day on email; and then a bit of time on developing what is going to come next. Grant applications are helpful because they can inform the creative process. I need to look carefully into what kind of grants I apply for, maybe business development time or creative applications. I need to make sure I break it up.”

 

 

It seems that no matter what direction Mickey is facing and what decisions need to be made, her arts management and administration experiences are never far from reach. "When I see things that are unfair for artists, I speak up about it and put my arts administration hat back on. For example, doing art for free, I probably think about that more than most artists. No matter what, an arts administrator’s pay cheque always shows up. It’s almost impossible for an artist to achieve financially what an administrator earns. You have to piece things together as an artist. Exhibiting in galleries can be more equitable than in museums; in galleries there is an exchange, but they fund the exhibition and not the artist’s time. Surely artists should be paid minimum wage, which for many would be triple compared to what they currently earn. Surely the arts community could stand up and demand equitable pay? Creative New Zealand are great and recognise that there should be a pay scale for artists, but that is the first time I’ve seen that. Why is that so revolutionary?!”

 

 

In conclusion, Mickey’s global knowledge from times past may make her a stronger cog in the wheel of the arts industry, but the fight as an artist is similar to everyone else’s. "There are organisations that have been put between artists and consumers, a huge and giant infrastructure; arts organisations have a serious responsibility to the artist”.

 

So, what is next for Micky? Simply, she isn’t sure; but maybe this is another helpful stepping stone. Her son sidles in, putting his arms around his mum’s shoulders, keen not to be left watching television. His appearance did a wonderful job at reminding me that this artist has priorities that nudge against each other’s territory. Her wing span is large enough to protect it all, but it is her wellbeing that matters the most, no matter what the current role is.