a balance of client and art work
from a life-in-progress (I’m restarting client work!) ✨
A few weeks ago I wrote about the series of rejections I got earlier this year. One of the things I realized from that experience was that I should go for the opportunities that maximize my Expected Value, big ones that take advantage of the full diversity of my experiences as both a data professional and a fledgling artist.
I also realized that for many of the opportunities, I was applying with projects that I wanted to work on but had to contort them to fit into what the organizations were looking for; I’d add elements to them that I wasn’t quite sure fit with what I was trying to do with the piece, but that I thought the jury would want. (Maybe they caught onto that.)
Which in turn made me realize: the only person that will fund my work exactly the way I’d want is…me! So I’ve spent the last month working on how to go forward, and the balance of client work and (self-funded lol) art work that feels good to me.
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I initially went back to grad school in Fall 2021 because I was so burnt out from my five years of near-non-stop client work that I couldn’t even bring myself to look at my past dataviz work. I was so strongly convinced that I no longer wanted to create (web-based) data visualizations that it was alarming. So I gave myself a two year break from client work.
And I’m so glad I did.
I’ve spent the past two years learning how to make work within physical spaces (if you’re interested in what that looks like, I had a solo show last summer, here’s a piece that I’m really proud of, and this is my thesis) and that has been incredibly cathartic, validating, and healing.
What it has taught me is that I need balance, between work for others and work for myself. And a balance between the extremely busy times and the times I get to slow down and take time for myself.
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Here’s how I envision that balance:
Web-based data visualizations (2–3 months of the year): this is what I already have 10+ years of expertise in, and was what I was doing prior to grad school. It’s a mix of hourly consulting for internal teams (design and technical direction, software architecture feedback, pair programming, etc.), and project-based implementation of static and/or interactive visualizations for the web.
hong kong artists, women (2020) 
people of the pandemic game (2020) Data physicalizations and/or creative technology work (3–4 months of the year): this is what I went to grad school for, that I want to expand my studio practice into. I’d especially love the opportunity to work with clients on large-scale installation works.
Personally-motivated work (5-6 months of the year): this would first and foremost include the art and research work I want to continue doing, that are very personal and I hope will lead to at least one exhibition per year (this is an arbitrary number). It could also include the time I spend giving talks at conferences, these newsletters I hope to keep writing, and whatever other resources I put out for free.
My goal is to charge my standard rate for the first service and half rate for the second, so that those together could afford me time for the third.
The biggest learning I had from my previous five years of independent work was that, living and working in Silicon Valley, I was constantly reminded of the opportunity cost of not working at a company. I was obsessed with working around the clock so that I could earn the “maximum” of my “value”—the equivalent of what I could earn at a big tech company. Except, I never even got close to that “maximum” number (some of these big tech companies just pay their employees ludicrous amounts of money), and that stressed me out even more.
Until I realized that I should just concentrate on earning the “minimum” I need to have a comfortable life, where I can also tuck away some savings for retirement. And that number is much less than that “maximum” figure.
And it’d allow me to be much more intentional with my time and the number of clients I take on, and have a balance between client work and personal work. And that’ll (hopefully) keep me from burning out so hard again.
(it really does feel hard to exist without burning out within American capitalism).
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So if you and your organization need any help with data visualizations, data physicalizations, or creative technology work I’m opening up my October and November and I’d love to work with you! Or if you don’t personally, but (want to help me fund my art 😂) know someone who does—this is my intake form with all the details.
Thank you as ever for letting these thoughts land in your inbox 💖
Shirley
P.S. I’m also exploring full-time opportunities! If you know of any that’s a fun team with a fun balance of software and hardware (the closest title I could find that matches this is Creative Technologist), please let me know~