I am still chewing over my identity as an artist. I had a tutorial on Wednesday with Sara, my tutor. I was saying that I was struggling with the art work for my pomegranates and that I knew this struggle was a normal part of my learning style. I know I have to work through this grief, and that it will all come right in the end. I said I was not really interested in the art object, but that I enjoyed colour, pattern and composition of a piece of cloth. I am interested in the practical application of things, not the beautiful, useless object. I chose to do this BA course because it was about Contemporary Applied Art, not fine art. I don't do things to put on the wall.
Sara made an off-the-cuff remark that this indicated that I was a designer, not an artist. This stopped me in my tracks, as I was not clear of the difference.
So, a textile artist is more conceptual, and applies his/her art to an end product. The artist plans for the object and for the specified environment.
A textile designer is less conceptual (but still has a concept) and designs for a range of fabrics (not end products). Likely to produce lots of swatches (yippee - I love making swatchbooks). The designer leaves the choice of end product to someone else - ie what the fabric is used for, is up to the maker.
This fits with my preference not to be a completer-finisher. The completer-finisher is the team person who ensures I's are dotted and Ts crossed. Every detail is present and correct. I hate this role - once I've done 85% of a task, I've lost interest. I want to move on to the next thing. I am quite happy for someone else to do all the little tidying-up things and make it perfect. So I am happy for someone else to use my product and make something beautiful from it. My contribution was the design and making of the fabric.
I am a textile designer.
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