Painting is a journey of one's inner psyche laid bare with each stroke of a brush. Similarly, every curatorial attempt is the curator’s “constant self-reflexivity” put out to the world.

Tara McDowall used “Shapeshifters” as the name for a curator’s symposium, curators such Harald Szeemann, Kate Fowle, Hans Ulrich Obrist and David Levi Strauss used a list of many professions to decode what a curator does. Indeed, I find it impossible to pin down a definition for a curator because it is an amalgamation of many fields and subjects yet the role is ever-changing due to circumstances. It’s no surprise that to the general public, a mysterious cloud seems to loom around the title of “curator” making it both alluring yet unapproachable. 

Inspired by the ways of street artists, I believe a curator should bring art to the world instead of bringing the world to art. In order to make art more accessible, I feel the need to demystify, democratise and decentralize the idea of a curator. In the step by step guide of interpretive painting, the values of a curator are integrated into each step. My intention is by following the steps, anyone can create a visual representation of a curator using their own interpretations. As a result, the idea of a curator would take shape organically in a highly individualized fashion. When developing this guide, I focused on the core attributes of a curator and the development of curatorial methodologies rather than the tasks a curator would undertake, in hope that the list bears wider applicability and endures the test of changing circumstances and time.

I find great resonance in that the notion of exhibiting art is at the heart of curating, therefore choosing the process of painting as an analogy for curatorial practice was an intuitive decision. Yet the methodology was developed with deliberate consideration. As Walter Hopps puts it, presenting an exhibition requires “as broad and sensitive understanding of an artist’s work as a curator can possibly muster. This knowledge needs to go well beyond what is actually put in the exhibition.” Through participating in the process of artmaking, a better understanding of an artist’s practice can be formed therefore leads to a curator-art/artist relationship beyond the exhibition.

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Echoing Hazlitt’s words about painting, curating is also very much a test of vision and skills. The difference is, whilst the painter may not always be aware of her audience, a curator should always put the audience in her forethought. Although curatorship requires a lot of introspection, an exhibition is only activated when it’s put to an audience. With this in mind, I’ve broken down the process of painting into instructional steps, put them together as a guide to help people navigate through the values and attributes of curatorship using visual language. Similar to curating, the painting guide requires the participation of the painter to fully realize its function.   

In the guide, painters are required to follow the steps with their own interpretation. The guide mimics curatorship -- upon the underlying supporting academic structure, the practice requires flexibility and adaptability in the application to garner complete creative control over the end result.

This guide attempts to keep the elements and attributes involved in curating clear and straightforward within the steps. Each step is a small prompt for a painting action, as a reflection of the curatorial practice. The steps aim to provoke the painter to inquire into her methodology and then making informed decisions hereon. The guide is meant to be followed at each person’s own discretion until she sees the painting as complete. The “Before We Begin” and “Preparation” sections are also made with close attention, they are imbued with core values such as commitment and patience, and it emphasizes the importance of interdisciplinarity. 

The demonstration and the finished painting was felt to complement the painting guide as they offer a possibility of interpretation. The demonstration is an effort to help painters to get started, find their visual styles, and shape their thinking processes. The final painting shows how critical understanding of the curatorial practice can be manifested through visual language. As Maria Lind writes “the curatorial is a viral presence that strives to create friction and push new ideas, whether from curators or artists, educators or editors”, this painting guide plants itself amongst the painters and welcomes customization and experimentation to prompt a dialogue in curatorial exploration. ||