This is the last of my love letter series, you can read the others in the A Nomadic Rose archive HERE.
Dear Installation Art,
You were a surprise of the best kind. I never imagined we would have a chance to play together and all I can think of now is how much I want to do it again. I was told once that the size of one’s art depended on how much space one had to make it. If you only had a small table all your work would be small in scale. It turns out if you have an entire corridor in an aquarium the work grows to fill it. Figuring out how to do that and falling in love with you seemed to happen at the exact same time. Though I think I was halfway to loving you already, I just didn’t know you intimately yet.
I had encountered you in galleries, growing more and more conscious of your impact on me over the years. When I look back at the art that has stayed with me over the last decade the installations shine out. From a corridor filled with coloured mist to a room of earth, installation art has burrowed deep inside my heart. Being immersed within art, surrounded on all sides and filling all my senses, I find my mind stills and imagination lingers long after I have left.
I think that is how we got to where we are today. I wanted to understand you better, to unravel your mystery. The only way to do that was to step into you fully and see if we might play together. Now that we have, I never want to stop.
You are everything all at once, all-encompassing and yet somehow distinct. Installation Art is more than a collection of pieces brought together in a space. You are a unified whole. Our first work together included so many firsts in my life, and so many experiments. You made me brave enough to try so much. You gave space for my art to breath. For me to breath.
You are my first major work in a museum, my first funded commission, my first big prize nomination. I had no idea how far our first steps together would take us.
I do know that there is so much further left to travel. I have so much more to learn about you, so much more to do together, so many ideas that you will make richer and more exciting. I can’t wait to keep getting to know you. If I love you this much already, the rest of the journey is going to be thrilling.
Love,
Rosie
I won’t be writing to you all next Wednesday. I am going on a week’s residential course at Dartington in Devon. I was supposed to go last year but got Covid the week before. Dartington kindly allowed me to reschedule. I am beyond excited and look forward to telling you all about it the week after. Until then, paid subscribers can expect a letter full of Finn stories this weekend, and I hope you all have a great few weeks.
Wow, you had a lot of love to share! ;-)