New York! New York!

So, at the start of the summer I got some exciting news. 3 of my selfies have been selected for a See.Me exhibition in New York called The Story of the Creative. Thrilled doesn’t even come close to describing how I feel knowing that my work is currently being shown as part of this event!

The 3 works selected are these…

The exhibition is being held at See | Exhibition Space, 26-19 Jackson AVE, Long Island City, NY 11101 until the 10th of September, so if you’re in NY or in the area, do let me know if you decide to go and check it out. Sadly, it’s a bit too far for me to visit myself, but knowing that there’s a wee piece of me there is truly amazing to me.

Also, even if, like me, you can’t be there in person, you can see a wider selection of my selfies and support my work my checking out my online See.Me space here: See | Me Amy Palko

The funny thing is that, just a few weeks before I received the email telling me all this, I was actually asked if I could see myself exhibiting my selfies, and there was a wee part of me that shied away from it. It seemed a scary prospect, and surely exhibitions were for *real* artists – not for someone like me. Well, my lovelies, turns out that, if you’re doing the work of an artist, that makes you an artist. Just as if you do the work of a writer, you’re a writer. Or a musician. Or a songwriter. Or a poet. Or a photographer. Or a… well, the list is endless.

We get so caught up in the cultural stereotypes of (particularly) those that produce art in all its forms, that we limit our own and other’s creative expression and we undermine our own sense of self-belief in our capacity to be creative, to share our work, to fully devote ourselves to the medium that calls most to our heart.

When I started taking these selfies using the front facing function on my iphone camera and a free editing app, I had no idea that it would lead me here. So, this whole process has taught me so much about learning to trust the process. Even, or perhaps especially, when you don’t know where it’s taking you. And it’s taught me about moving beyond my own perception of artistic stereotype and fully own my creativity.

So many gifts…