Taking the Art Career Plunge: My Journey to Becoming an Artist
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🎧 Listen to the Story
Prefer to listen? Hear me narrate my journey to becoming an artist and overcoming cultural expectations:
Pursuing a creative career is rarely straightforward, and for many of us, it involves taking risks, defying expectations, and embracing the unknown. Today, I want to share the story of how I started my career as an artist—a journey filled with challenges, cultural expectations, and the unshakable belief that art is my calling. If you’re someone who has ever struggled to follow your passion, I hope my story offers you inspiration and encouragement.
My pen falters as I scrawl the choppy sentences that will seal my fate. I pause only for a moment before I sign my name, hurriedly fold the paper, and slide it into the envelope as if doing this quickly won’t break my father’s heart. It’s done, I tell myself.
“I’ve been accepted!” I look up, seeing their concerned expressions.
My dad’s face grows disappointed.
“How will you make a living? This is not a good choice—it’s not.”
My mum also looks worried, but I see her forcibly pushing it to the side.
“Mabrook, habibti. You’ll be great.”
My father looks over to my mum, an annoyed expression on his face. He never liked that she supported my artistic streak, feeling that I had more important things to do than play around with “all this creative stuff.” He brings his gaze to the floor as if in defeat, and with one last-ditch effort says, “What about science? You’ve always loved biology.”
“I know, Dad, but honestly, art breathes life into me, and I love it! I know that this is what I want to do. I’ve made my decision.”
My fingers are sticky, covered in glue, music is blaring in my ears, and I’m dancing along while working on my papier-mâché sculpture. Life is good, I think to myself.
It’s a sunny, hot Perth morning. My dad helps me stuff my sculptures in the back of his blue Toyota Camry. We argue as to whether or not these strangely shaped items will fit into this small sedan.
“It will fit, it will fit,” my dad repeats again and again as he moves the metal and fabric sculptures around, angling them so that they can slide in like Tetris pieces.
I look at him; he looks so immersed in the challenge, which makes me smile. He lowers the lid of the boot and turns around to smile at me, a huge self-satisfied grin on his face.
“I told you,” he says. “See? You should listen to Baba.”
“Ok, ok, you did it.” I smile at him and thank him, reluctantly admitting my defeat.
I’ve never worked so hard on something in my life, but my grad show is coming up, and I want to see my vision come to life. I’m staying up all hours of the night to make my pieces great, stitching over my welded armatures. Time just disappears as I work away.
“And the award goes to… Marwa Fahmy!”
I look around, honestly stunned. I walk toward the stage, weaving through the crowds of people and smiling faces. Reaching out to take the microphone and being congratulated, everything feels like a blur. My stomach is doing somersaults; I’m deadly nervous but I feel proud—proud of myself.
I think of how hard I’ve worked, pouring time, passion, and practice into my work. I look into the sea of people as I begin to give a speech. I thank all the people who helped me along the way, and then I begin to talk about my parents.
I find them in the crowd, my water-brimmed eyes locking with theirs.
“I’d like to thank my parents. This career path is not usually one that is valued in our culture, but they have stood by me since I made my decision to be here. Thank you!”
I see my dad’s tears running down his face as he yells into the crowd, “That’s my daughter!” Smiling and crying all at once.
Mum and Dad at my gradshow 💕
My first sculpture at art school. The paper mache sculpture I mentioned in the story.
Thank you for reading my story. If it resonated with you, or if you’ve ever had to make a leap of faith to follow your passion, I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.
If you’d like to see some of my sculptures or read more about my journey, check out my portfolio here.
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