Atlanta Artists

31 - Sonya Yong James—Phantom Threads by Vivian Liddell

Sonya Yong James on taking risks and pushing herself in her work :

It seems like for the past...say...two or three years, I approach every single project, or show, or sculpture ...it's like a brand new thing. And it's actually really uncomfortable and it's really scary because when I do that—I just have to, it's just the way I work— I have to really push myself kind of to that edge. Particularly of not really knowing how something is going to turn out. And knowing also…too… there's a tremendous amount of risk, because you can really, really fail in a really spectacular and public way! Because, I mean, I tried to do a little bit of math because I have to be somewhat prepared, you know. But so, I had ...luckily, I was really lucky...I had a couple of interns helping me. And so we're tearing these bed sheets in The Contemporary, but then I had to move— and then into The Temporary— in the temporary little room space that I had and then I'm like trying to like kind of like lay down on the ground with a tape measure and like, measure it. And I do some math, and then think about what the size is going to be here. And do I have enough bed sheets? I mean, I know I bought every single bed sheet in Atlanta again. It better work! And that real kind of fear, you know, thatadrenaline. I mean, my adrenal glands in the month of November... but I don't know... it's worth it. You know, I kind of think tooas an artist, you want to have that feeling of wonder. I think as artists, that's the thing that we're always trying to hold on to…recapture.

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