Art and Anxiety: A Lesson from Theater
Thursday, May 31, 2012 
Meredith Hinckley Schmidt as Olivia in "Twelfth Night"As my new paper sculpture series shows, anxiety has been an obstacle for me as an artist over the years–and I know it is an issue for other artists as well. What has helped me, among other things, is to talk to artists about how they deal with anxiety about their work.
This week I had the pleasure of seeing my daughter-in-law, Meredith Hinckley Schmidt, perform in Looseleaf Theatre Company’s production of Twelfth Night. As we debriefed the performance, she gave me an important insight about directing plays that spoke directly to my experience as a sculptor (she has had success as a director, actor, and educator).
She said that with theater, the director’s vision for the play–a cohesive production of her interpretation–is not realized until it is performed for an audience. This means that the director is facing a work of art that is incomplete, in process, and disjointed until the very last minute.
When I enter the studio and see my work before it is finished, still weak in some areas and not yet expressing what I want it to say, it can shake my confidence as an artist. But I remember that art takes time, and that I must have faith in the process.
Reader Comments (2)
Audience as finisher of art? Or refiner of the art? I never thought of that until you put it into words. How insightful; how exciting for the audience to be part of the process.
Your work is inspiring.
I have many projects in various stages of completion, and most are far from complete. This posting really expresses the crisis of confidence that too easily engulfs me when I look at my own time-table for completion. God reminds me to trust his process for however long it takes, that the beauty of what will come is well worth the wait. Long ago I heard the saying: God is never in a hurry, but he is never late.