Learning to Love Rejection
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As with any profession, there are going to be positives and negatives to the job. As an artist, one of the negatives is often cited as the relatively large amount of direct (and sometimes personal) rejection one can face.
The very nature of being an artist, or at least one who doesn’t create in a vacuum, is that you intend to put your work out there to be judged. That’s part of the plan for many. And the fact of the matter is, there has never been an artist whose work is universally loved. That’s not to say there aren’t artists whose work speaks to the majority, but rather, there has never been an artist whose every effort is loved by every human on the planet. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that for every person who passionately embraces your work, there is someone out there who just as passionately loathes it.
Some wilt at the first intersection of their art and rejection, forever turned from the path of showing more work. Others choose to create work solely for personal pleasure and do not want nor need the acceptance or adulation of others, while still others thrive on that very acceptance and praise. And yet, some artists seem to shed the effects of rejection like beaded raindrops on a modern raincoat – continually moving forward through a landscape bereft of external support and critical/popular praise.
Personally, I’ve found rejection easier to bear as I move forward in my career – I’ve long held the belief (both professionally and socially) that you can’t please all of the people all of the time. Truly believing that statement has helped me through some tender moments, though at the end of it all, a rock solid faith in my own work is the driving force behind my continued exploration of art as a career. I have been turned down by passers-by at festivals, I have been snidely criticized as a hobbyist by peers, fired from art related jobs, snubbed by galleries and collectors alike, rejected from group shows, and I have been rejected from grad school (I only applied to one school, one time, so I don’t want to be too dramatic there,) but the important thing is that… each… and… every… time… I went back for more. Conversely, for every critical experience I’ve endured there have been just as many positive, and I (an eternal optimist by genetic predisposition) place far greater stock in the power of the positive than I do in the negative. Specifically I’ve found it helpful to have multiple submissions/projects/targets/etc. lined up, so that when one is out the door, I am already refocusing on the next, constantly looking to move forward rather than dwelling on the “what if” of the last effort.
When confronted by rejection I’ve found the array of emotions that can manifest to be, at times, bewildering. There’s anger, disbelief, sadness, anxiety and occasionally the odd-ball sensation of relief or ambivalence. It’s that last one I fear the most – as I’ve been told it is often worse to be ignored than it is to be loved or hated, and the feeling of ambivalence that can arise post-rejection is akin to ignoring the opportunity for growth that rejection can bring to the artist. I try to embrace the criticism from a coldly rational place, attempting to look closely at the comments made or the reasoning behind the rejection in order to determine if there’s merit there. If there is, I see if I can incorporate that into my workflow or work where appropriate. If I find no merit, I’m sure to double check and speak with others about it so as to make sure I’m not being dismissive from a place of backlash emotion or misplaced perspective. Needless to say, it doesn’t always work, and sometimes my feelings are hurt. However, once I’ve recovered I try to remind myself that rejection is simply another form of criticism – one that when properly wielded can result in unrivaled opportunities for growth. After all, don’t most artists jump at the opportunity to be a part of professional critique panels and the like?
Having a support network of friends, or fellow artists to help digest and make sense of the inevitable rejection is priceless for many. Some like to wallow in the feelings that rejection brings – inspiring them to create from a dark place. Many take solace in the fact that rejection is often a shared burden: an experience nearly all artists can sympathize with. In the end, however, there is no right way to handle rejection – save for not letting it destroy your ambition or dreams. To say anything else as though it were fact would actually just be an expression of opinion. And as we know, everyone has an opinion… which can sometimes manifest as a rejection of your work.
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