I am an Artist (An Artist's Practice)

2023, performative installation

I am an Artist (An Artist's Practice) is a performative installation that serves as a culmination of my thoughts and reflections on my relationship with art, as well as my dual-role of a gallery worker and an artist. The work consists of a video installation that presents my representation and a re-interpretation of the daily routines in the life of a gallery worker. 

Juxtaposing the role of a gallery worker with the identity of a practising artist from my personal experience, this work explores the wider circumstances of artists’ attempts to practice art while figuring out ways to make a living, with gallery work serving as common employment for many emerging artists.

More than six years ago, I began working in an art gallery with the intention to become an artist. Not formally trained in art, I take the gallery as my art school, as I sought to learn from everyone I met, from artists to collectors to curators and more. I still find myself straddling both roles and uncertain of what I should do, but as I strive to reconcile the differences, I realised that perhaps this doesn’t matter much at all – an artist can be anyone, and everyone can be an artist – as long as we harbour the desire to share what we see, through what we make.