Artist v modern technology

Over the last 18 months as my art practice has developed, I have been forced down the technology path with posting on social media (and all that entails) and by creating a new website, albeit with tremendous help of a web designer. Nevertheless, as a person who never grew up with, nor used in the workplace, a computer of any kind, coming into this high tech world at a late age has had its heartbreak.

No matter how much instruction I receive about using tech, there is always the one time that the proven tutorial fails me and I ask “what now?” The amount of times that my laptop has almost been sent flying out of the window in exasperation is countless.

So, I asked myself, how would the great artists throughout history have adapted to this way of working, namely 6 hours in the studio and 3 hours on social media and Google per day. With his background as scientist, architect, engineer, theorist, sculptor and draughtsman, Leonardo I’m sure would have had no problem and would sell a painting per post. However, artists with a creative temperament would maybe follow in my shoes!

So it was interesting and enlightening to me when I came across a contemporary artist called Laurence de Valmy, of French origin now working in California, who revisits art history through painted anachronistic Instagram posts, sharing the stories behind the art. She is of course young, and so sits within this genre with great aplomb. I find her work visually stimulating, while informative and at times humorous.

There was a time when celebrated female artists were a rarity, so will it now be unusual to see an older artist finding representation due to their lack of tech savvy? It would be a travesty if that were to become the case, no more the likes of Mary Delany or Noah Purifoy.

I will endeavour to beat this technophobia and take my place in the modern world of art, even if I die trying!