Rosie Williamson
The Art of Emerging
THE ART OF EMERGING
What truly sets my heart on fire is painting.
The aim of The Art of Emerging is to document my exploratory journey from a junior graphic designer towards emerging into an exhibiting artist. A unique blend of an archival audit, an autobiography and an informative guide, this project focuses on being an equally entertaining and educational book to inform myself, first and foremost, but also other displaced or emerging creatives similar to myself.
Self-proclaimed as an ‘unorthodox guide’ of a struggling interdisciplinary creative, The Art of Emerging intertwines the autobiographical storytelling of my past and present creative journey, and the tidbits, experiences and research I uncovered within myself and other prominent individuals in the industry. Creating my own survival toolkit for my future ahead, the beginning of my passion project (a hyper-realist series of quirky painted birds, aptly named "Plumage") drives the core purpose of this book, documenting the steps I've taken and will take to navigate the art industry through my own lens.
With my many creative ventures in The Art of Emerging, I value my entrepreneurial spirit and unwavering bravery in pursuing monetising my passion for art and design over the years. As an Advertising & Branding student in a Communication Design degree, I have found myself battling an increasing sense of tension between the work I make at Uni as a designer, and the work I wish to produce within my career as an artist. As the imminent completion of my design degree looms, along with the idea of joining the ‘grown up’ workforce in the field of creativity, it was topical and relevant for me to direct my project towards the future and put my passions at the forefront as I grip the reins.
The Art of Emerging has provided an opportunity to channel this tension and synergise my art and design to drive and inform the project; setting me on a path to pursue my fine art passion after my design degree. As both a designer and an artist emerging into the industry, this project weaves together some of my most profoundly life-shaping passions and interests, centred at the core of my art and design practices. Whilst this project works to define and situate my identity as an aspiring creative, I hope to inspire those who feel that same sense of displacement as they emerge into an ever-changing industry, with real-life lessons in my failures and valuable discoveries in my journey towards becoming an exhibiting artist. With a light-hearted but sincere tone of writing, I want to both entertain and inform the reader.
Most of my research is primary in nature, where I put into words my own experiences, successes, failures and lessons I have learnt from my often short-lived adventures in the hopes of monetising my passion for art. My research is also driven by the idea of my future, planting the seeds of a painting career and creating valuable connections and networks within the sphere of fine art to benefit my journey beyond tertiary study.
My project brings to light the transformative way technology is constantly presenting and reimagining the way artists interact with each other and their audiences, and the importance of this to the 21st Century artist and designer. As the extensive possibilities of social media are at our fingertips, The Art of Emerging provides an interesting perspective through my lens as an emerging artist, on the idea that we can build ourselves a self-sustaining and self-marketing empire without the need of a galleries' support. As a marketing major as well, this deeply interested me and I hope to inspire other upcoming artists of my generation to build their own pathways and careers with the ever-changing tools we are so luckily given.
To me, the finishing of this project is only the starting point.
