INTERDISCIPLINARY studio creative Madeleine Cruise was recently named a successful applicant in the 2023 Rising Talent Artist Search.<\/p>\n
One of 10 Australian and New Zealander artists accepted to take part in major a Melbourne exhibition, Cruise\u2019s work was selected from a pool of hundreds of submissions.<\/p>\n
While the established painter and drawer has had some commercial opportunities, she has predominantly been self-represented for the last 14 years and said she was excited to be included in the showcase, which was set to draw art-lovers from across the country.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve had to continually market myself and find opportunities to show my work, improve my profile, build my audience, and that\u2019s an ongoing challenge,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a lot of knocking on doors, a lot of rejection, and it can be incredibly disheartening. To keep going over a solid 10-year period, that\u2019s started to take its toll a little bit.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, to get this exhibition and to be showing with other likeminded artists, and in a space where the brand was about connecting artists with a broad audience, buyers, and collectors, that was what was exciting; what could come from it.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of artists rely on endorsement like this from galleries to sell their work. Buyers need this encouragement.\u201d<\/p>\n
But the host brand was Fenton & Fenton, the high-profile Australian interiors boutique and gallery which went into liquidation last week.<\/p>\n
In recent days, that\u2019s left the 10 Rising Talent show participants in limbo; another \u201cstressful\u201d and \u201cdisappointing\u201d hit to independent creators like Cruise, who would have opened their exhibition this weekend.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019ve still got nine of my paintings,\u201d she said. \u201cThey\u2019re valuable works, and they\u2019re my works. When do I get them back?<\/p>\n
\u201cThis week, I\u2019ve done a sketch of an interiors scene, with some lemons in there, and I\u2019ve called it Trying to make lemonade. I haven\u2019t found the lemonade yet.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wish it could have gone further, but having the conversations with other artists, putting myself out there, and letting people know about the accolade is all helpful.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cruise said the current competitive art world, alongside the broader economic climate, is a strange one for a makers to navigate, particularly those in regional areas.<\/p>\n
\u201cRegional artists that aren\u2019t in metro areas need bolstering behind them,\u201d she said. \u201cSure, we have social media, but sometimes we can feel disconnected.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere needs to be more opportunities to sell work, more local art prizes, competitions, and grants.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are a lot of artists that work here, but we don\u2019t have a lot of galleries in Ballarat, and there are waiting lists of over a year for the independent spaces we do have.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere have been efforts forward with Creative Ballarat, and there is productivity, but more opportunities to showcase and celebrate what we do locally would be great.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cruise encourages individuals to embrace art in their home, and consider saving up some money to purchase a special piece they love, made by a local artist.<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone has a budget, but even the practice of valuing what artists do, having an attitude of collecting small things, or frequenting a gallery helps,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
INTERDISCIPLINARY studio creative Madeleine Cruise was recently named a successful applicant in the 2023 Rising Talent Artist Search. One of 10 Australian and New Zealander artists accepted to take part in major a Melbourne exhibition, Cruise\u2019s work was selected from a pool of hundreds of submissions. While the established painter and drawer has had some […]<\/p>\n