Skilled Recommendation on Curating your Personal Art work

Curating your individual art work is a really helpful and pleasing talent to hone. With the rise of artist-led artwork gala’s it’s effectively price getting snug with it. We’re going to take a look at a few of the events if you’ll must self-curate, together with the right way to determine the aim of your collections, the specified viewer expertise, and a few tricks to get you pondering like a curator.

Claudia Kennaugh

Skilled Recommendation on Curating your Personal Art work

When Will I Have to Curate My Personal Art work?

Curating artwork sounds grand however you’ve in all probability already achieved it with out realising. Anytime you submit to your social media you might be primarily curating your art work. Consider it as enhancing.

You are able to do this to go well with totally different environments each on-line and in individual together with web sites, social media, on-line platforms, artwork markets, artwork trails, open homes, open studios, studio visits, artwork gala’s, self-curated solo or group exhibitions, and open name functions. Even when you don’t have an official alternative to curate your art work, it’s an affirming train to get some perspective and see the way it suits collectively in small or massive collections. Artists with different practices usually ask me to assist them discover cohesion of their work and I at all times begin by curating a group of their work on the studio flooring. I deliver collectively items from totally different sequence in order that they will stand again and see the visible or thematic hyperlinks between them.

Eleanor Johnson, Winner of Jackson’s Artwork Prize, 2025

What’s the Objective of the Assortment?

Begin by asking your self why you make and sharing this explicit assortment. Is it for business functions? If that’s the case, take into consideration the promoting surroundings. If it’s an open studio or artwork path occasion you could want to decide on our bodies of labor with a cheaper price level. For artwork gala’s, you’ll need a very present and cohesive assortment. Is it a web site particular work that invitations engagement from the viewer or local people? Take into consideration how one can actively invite viewers to participate within the work and the way that motion will be recorded. Are you selecting works for a potential catalogue or open name software? Take into consideration how the works join to 1 one other and whether or not it represents a transparent creative voice. Limitations are typically helpful as folks will likely be unable to digest the total breadth of your follow unexpectedly. So edit your assortment in line with the aim.

What’s the Expertise?

When curating your individual art work, take into consideration how the fast context and ambiance impacts the viewer’s expertise. What’s the bodily move of the work and the way does that invite folks to maneuver within the house? Is there a story or order to issues? Would immersive components like sound, contact, mild or odor be useful to attain this? Or supportive materials resembling textual content, working research or analysis. An artist I work with created a fascinating altar at certainly one of her exhibitions, inviting folks to deliver choices. Folks felt invested within the expertise and by the top of the present, it was overflowing with folks’s engagement along with her work.

Assume Like a Curator

Self-curating your art work requires a wholesome dose of objectivity. Nevertheless, somewhat than making an attempt to be fully eliminated, your distinctive expertise of being the creator of the work will be your curatorial tremendous energy. the hidden references and hyperlinks between your works so you possibly can have enjoyable putting issues collectively in dialog to permit connections to type on the wall. I usually see artists silo their totally different our bodies of labor onto separate partitions however this turns into disjointed. Inside motive, I like to recommend mixing them collectively, permitting folks to see the journey your work travels, because it strikes by means of mediums, codecs and sequence. Unusually sufficient, it’ll seem extra cohesive. In spite of everything, folks’s properties are usually not like solo exhibitions so in case your goal is to promote, take into consideration how that stability of concord and distinction might aid you.

Presentation

Consideration to the presentation of your assortment, and particular person artworks inside it, is vital. Your model and method will rely on the surroundings, goal and desired expertise of your assortment. Framing and end are each very important components, which needn’t break the bank. If you happen to’re working with a small price range, simply body one piece and use it for example, somewhat than plenty of low-cost frames which will devalue your work.. Take into consideration the variety of artworks, their proximity within the house and what impact this can have. I usually see artists overhang their stands at artwork gala’s. Actually because there’s little or no space for storing, and the stand prices are excessive, however this may be overwhelming and ‘an excessive amount of of a great factor’. On the subject of a single artist’s work, much less is normally extra. Permit the work to breathe and really feel actually particular. Forward of an exhibition, it’s actually helpful to follow the structure beforehand both with paper lower outs or on a digital software program. You would possibly find yourself altering all of it on the day nevertheless it’s much less daunting when you have a plan.

Making Your Personal Collections

I encourage you to make your individual collections, even when you don’t have a house for them for the time being. You would make them seasonal, quarterly or each time you’ve gotten accomplished a sequence. It’s an awesome train in enhancing and seeing how your work sits collectively. If you happen to’re proud of the outcome, then you possibly can launch it as a web based assortment to your viewers by way of social media or a e-newsletter. You can too group along with different artists to curate one another’s work or construct group collections for an expanded attain, however extra on artist collectives subsequent month…

Have a go at curating your individual art work purely as an train or for an intentional event. See the way it conjures up you to view your work in a special mild. It’d shock you.

Samir Rakhmanov in his studio with a group of his work
Winner of Anita Klein’s Alternative Award on the Jackson’s Artwork Prize, 2025

Skilled Teaching Webinars With Claudia Kennaugh

Over the previous few months, we requested the Jackson’s group what they wished to know most about constructing a profession in artwork. Based mostly in your responses, we’ve created six webinars in collaboration with Claudia to discover these key matters. Every session is filled with precious insights that will help you develop and succeed as an artist, plus a dwell Q&A the place you possibly can ask your individual questions.

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