Hello my friend!
6 months away from social media, I just wrote 3 newsletters on my website and each of them felt like a punishment. I have to admit it: words are not my thing, not a skill. I'd rather say sharing my world with people through words is not my strength. Explaining the process, the behind the scenes, etc... is something that drains life from me!
So what am I doing here? Sometimes I want to share a thought and realized that this newsletter/blog/thing I'm doing here is just a part of my body of work: it's a part of my world, so I can turn it into whatever I want. I can write 4 times a day or year, just put pictures without context, anything! It's my world, it's my house.
So now, I'm formally inviting you to join me in this space. Writing here is similar to what I'm doing in private, in my journal or art journal. Many artists I love were avid writers, and when I write, I'm thinking of the possibility that when I die, someone will read them and understand my work, my process, me. But I can't do it regularly in a newsletter. I don't want to constantly plan, think about taking pictures, promote my work, create a storytelling because Lord Marketing says that if you want people to buy something, they need a story, etc...
During these 6 months away from here, I created 19 paintings. This would have never happened if I had documented the whole process on social media. My work is about silence, solitude, stillness: the opposite of social interaction. Especially when they are just online.
I'll participate in my first residency and exhibition this summer. I felt that maybe I should try to make things happen in real life and the same week, Uncle Seth aka Lord of Social media escape club, confirmed that yes, connections and actions in the real world are the way I should live now. Then, I'll write about them if something happens, not the other way around. Similarly,I talked about my struggle with writing my artist statement for an open call and Spencer Welsh offered to help!
Maybe we don't need a big community but instead a small village, a small company to talk to, care about and support each other. Maybe I'm finally at peace with the fact that my subscribers are not my collectors, so I should not put too much pressure on myself to build something here.
There are many paths to reach our dreams, some roads are fast and others slower. Let’s choose one that nourishes us.
That’s all for me now,
love, Lyly
ps: I imported my emails list from two different platforms so, if you receive this email but unsubscribed at some point, I’m really sorry.
If you no longer want to receive my emails, please unsubscribe whenever you want to, life’s too short to read things that don’t resonate with you 💙
I just came across your work. Your art is beautiful and resonates somewhere deep in me as an indigenous woman. I haven’t fully processed what it is, yet, but the feeling is powerful. I just wanted to share that with you. Your writing is very vulnerable and speaks to that part of my inner child who craves to be heard but is constantly criticizing the self. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and reflections on substack with your corner of the community.
Congrats on the residency and exhibition, how wonderful! And I am happy to help, or just read, or talk, or whatever anytime.