The Meaning of Vulnerability: Conversations with Contemporary Artists

In this thought-provoking collection, repsychl presents a series of interview extracts with contemporary artists. We invited each artist to reflect on their personal history, the meaning they find in their work, and the philosophy that informs their creative process.

Within these extracts are candid responses to a fundamental question: “What does vulnerability mean to you?” with artists offering insights into their unique perspectives on vulnerability and its role in their artistic journey.

Their diverse experiences and interpretations shed light on the multifaceted nature of vulnerability and provide intimate narratives articulating the profound impact of vulnerability on artistic expression. Their introspections offer a window into their creative process, inviting us to consider the complexities of vulnerability and its transformative power.

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Rebecca Munce

“I think vulnerability for me is to simply communicate honestly when interacting with the    grandiosity mythology and folklore often provide. It is actually in these moments where one expects infallible heroism I enjoy exploring mistakes or awkwardness. By exploring these qualities in the figures I portray there’s room for me to express my own anxieties or lack of certainty.”    

Hermione Ross

“Vulnerability as an artist for me means expressing yourself truthfully through your art. For me this includes constantly questioning why I am creating a piece, for who and most importantly, am I enjoying making it.”

Chantel King

“As an artist everything you do is on display. When I shoot, I am not only tapping into the model I am also tapping into myself. It can be scary putting myself out there but showing vulnerability is also a sign of strength.”

Peel Dream Magazine

“I think it’s important to be vulnerable as an artist because it means you’re putting yourself out there… The vulnerability you show as an artist should be a bridge that listeners can reach you by. I didn’t always think that, but it’s something I’ve been ruminating on lately. If you can stand in front of the world and admit to your own powerlessness, it’s like a baptism in a way.”

Jack Coulter

“Being vulnerable is freedom as an artist. If you don’t wear your heart on canvas so to speak, it won’t translate. My mental health wasn’t great when I started everything. Art truly saved my life; I owe everything to it. Allowing myself to be vulnerable at that time is what kept me alive, I channelled it even in that state. Vulnerability can shift into power.”

Jack Sutherland

“I would absolutely consider myself to be a sensitive person, and that’s a great thing but also something that I’ve found hindering me at times. I take things too personally, I obsess about words and actions, and I question myself all the time, but these are parts of my personality that I’m coming to terms with more and more as I get older. Am I better at dealing with those things? I’m not sure, but I’m certainly more aware of them so that’s a start.

Again it comes back to empathy, I think vulnerability and empathy go hand in hand, because if you open yourself up to being vulnerable and dealing with some painful emotions then you can see things from other people’s viewpoint as well. Not that I’m equating my painful emotions with other people’s, but it can act as a bridge. Vulnerability can let you work with some difficult subjects, but it can also be overwhelming, so you have to find a balance. I’m against the idea of “troubled artist” and that being inherently tied in with creativity. I need to be happy to paint!”

Connor Tudor

“Franz Kline once said to Philip Guston in a conversation “You know what creating really is? To have the capacity to be embarrassed”, which I think is absolutely true. You need that capacity to just keep painting with reckless abandon and even if everyone tells you your paintings are bad it’s to double your efforts and keep hitting whatever wall you’re stuck at.

It’s similar to many of life’s problems in that regard, and by persevering and continuously engaging and exposing your artwork to the world (whether you’re confident in it or not) is maybe when I personally am at my most vulnerable, when I’m exposing my process or thoughts. Though admittedly, I do keep my own cards close to my chest when it comes to the concepts in my paintings.”

Anne Desmet

“I feel vulnerable every time I have an exhibition. It’s a bit like being an actor at the opening night of a performance: you’re very vulnerable to the response of the audience. After all the months of working alone on works to exhibit, you have to trust your own judgement all the time about what works and what doesn’t.

However confident you feel that individual works or an entire exhibition have strength, your confidence can certainly be knocked by adverse or noncommittal audience reactions or if sales are poor – despite that fact that whether works do or don’t sell also depends on lots of factors including the state of the economy; whether the weather is bad or some other factor that keeps people away from the exhibition’s Private View; or whether the gallery has done its marketing effectively – factors beyond my control and irrespective of the quality of the work on show.

I also feel vulnerable to changing fashions in art. I feel that something inside me somehow dictates what I will or won’t create and that particular something seems to be very unconnected to popular trends, so I have never been able to say I’m part of any particular ‘movement’ or ‘fashion’ in art. I feel I’m always ploughing my own furrow and, so far, have been fortunate in managing to sell enough work and to gain enough public notice in the form of exhibitions, awards and commissions, to make a reasonable living, but I always feel somewhat vulnerable to that situation changing.”