work in progress – Art Spiel

Beware the Leave-It-Like-That

A picture containing text, outdoor, old

Description automatically generated — Moby Dick Illustration by Augustus Burnham Shute, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Gather round, me hearties, and let me tell you a tale: a tale about a much-dreaded comment received by many an artist on Instagram and during a studio visit. This comment can sound like a terrifying roar made by a fearsome beast. And it’s called—the “Leave-It-Like-That.

It’s the kind of comment we might receive on our works-in-progress (a struggling fawn just starting its wobbly walk). And we may have blithely thought to ourselves, “Hey, why don’t I post this WIP on the ‘Gram and give people a window into my process!” But…Beware ye who enter here. This generous sneak peek could attract a Leave-It-Like-That (or even its frightening brethren: the “Stop-Don’t-Touch-It” or the “Looks-Finished-To-Me”).

During the Coronavirus pandemic, Art Spiel is reaching out to artists to learn how they are coping.

Working space view with Tears of Fire, drawing series in progress. Photo courtesy of the artist.

Pauline Galiana’s work, from collages to paintings, ephemeral installations to small sculptures, addresses the broad themes of deconstruction versus reconstruction, mixing intuitive states of mind with free hand, formal associations, and meditative processes with rigorous grids. Galiana was born in Algeria and grew up in France. She received her MFA at ESAG, Paris. Her work is included in the collections of UBS, New York University, the National Museum of Romanian Literature, where she won the 2018 Bibliophile Object-Book Biennale award, and private collections in New York, Washington, Houston, Paris, Riyadh, London, and Sydney. She lives and works in New York City.

Tag: work in progress

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Beware the Leave-It-Like-That

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