GRACE SLATER

 "101 ways to ..." is an exploration of female pleasure and the innovative ways in which women explored to experience pleasure whilst growing up.

Being an artist can be rough. You experience a lot of rejection and disappointment early on and this feels like a direct commentary on your creativity and self. When you make work that explores themes personal to you and you decide to put it out there into the public eye you are allowing yourself to be vulnerable. This means you are exposed and open to criticism and this can take the magic out of making work for yourself. I have not worked on a project since April 2020 and at that point I was already clutching at straws for ideas and pops of creativity. The pandemic took the last of those straws and I have not picked up a camera since. Until earlier this month. I took time. I read a lot. I lived. Then one day an idea hit me and that was it. Out came the sketch book and I was ready again. Being an artist is not always linear and living is the most important tool for creativity. If you're forcing yourself to be creative and you feel burnt out, take a break and live a little. Artists always find their way back in the end.

Images 1, 2 & 3:
Grace Madeleine Slater, 101 ways to ..., 2022, Photograph