A cohesive breadth of work is a death sentence to the soul. Ever more frequently the advice online is that of ‘niche down’, ‘find you niche’, ‘your audience needs to know its you by looking at it’. Which negates the idea that we as artists are not defined by our work, in the broader sense, but rather defined only by what we literally create. The moment you niche down, the moment the audience knows what to expect from you, you lose creative freedom. You lose the momentum that comes with the ability to go wherever your mind takes you.
I often ask myself ‘what haven’t I done yet’. And yes, perhaps I come back to the same symbols and the same styles, because that is what is most natural for my body to expel, but only by going out and trying something new do I have the energy to remain creative. I have spoken to many artists who have their works in galleries, sometimes they have been working together for 5+ years. And what they say is that they are exhausted from what they produce, they no longer have a passion for it, and they only make it because the gallery has decided that that is what they want to market, and they better make more of it for continued representation.
When I traveled to Peru I painted only walls for 2 months straight. Prior to that trip I defined myself as a portrait artist. Upon arriving home from Peru I painted only old family photos for several months, because they gave me joy and I liked that they were ‘bad’ in a realistic sense. A niche is nothing more than a self containing prison. You must not confine the soul as you do not know where it can take you.