I realized the other day that I have been living more or less hand to mouth for 18 years. I was supporting myself and paying for undergrad at San Francisco State in 1990. I have worked some pretty crazy jobs since that time.
When I finished my undergrad program at Berkeley I worked as a 'waitress to support my job as a muralist to support my work as an artist.' I chose the restaurant because (a) they were hiring someone to start that day (b) they were near where I lived in the Mission (c) it was Asian fusion themed, and so am I (half Chinese, half Ecuadorian).
As I was finishing up college in Indiana I decided I would move to Seattle. I had never been there before, nor did I know anyone in the city or much about it. I suppose I just wanted to try a new place and a place that was largely unfamiliar to me. I did not give much thought to how I would support myself.
When I got out of graduate school (University of Chicago) I moved to California to follow a long and rather tragic relationship to the bitter end (which came pretty quickly) and simply decided to stay put and try to figure out what came next. I worked for a builder for about a year, which was very interesting but hard on me physically. I tried to make money making ceramics and selling them and found that to be unrealistic.
I started making art in a "serious" way while I was in college, studying psychology and working in research labs. Trying to write this, I found that I had to look at my resume to remember all the jobs I had during and after school. Everything sort of blurs together into a mostly grey and indistinct working past.
I had my first art related job during high school and junior college at Aaron Brothers Art Mart where I was a runt and spent lots of time pranking my coworkers to pass the time. We would play UNO, launch yard sticks with those big rubber bands and roll around on the office chairs playing tag - touching the floor was illegal.
I first started making art while I was working in a cafeteria at the University of Oregon. I was studying philosophy and had minimal interest in art, other than the fact that a girl I had a huge crush on said she was an oil painter. I thought the stuff was strictly for the birds and was much more interested in the punk rock band I was in at the time.
Throughout my undergrad education I worked at a motorcycle shop. By the time I was done with school I had made my way into a management position and was thoroughly tired with the whole thing. I desperately wanted out and that became incredibly motivating for my art practice.
Three days after I obtained my MFA in France in 2000, I moved to CA. My new-age roommate convinced me that after getting an intensive massage therapist training, I could make a lot of money. Wanting to be able to support my art practice without having to work a lot, I did the training and became a massage therapist for 2 years.
While I was getting my undergraduate degree in Fine Art (1991-95) I wound up doing many different jobs to stay afloat. I worked 30-40 hours a week, most of it for minimum (or near minimum) wage. I was a sculpture studio monitor and computer center tutor (2 years); counter server at a bagel deli (5 years); graphic design intern at the Exploratorium Museum (2 years); artist assistant in New York (for Dennis Oppenheim) for a few months, as well as an intern at White Columns gallery.
While I was in art school I held a smattering of odd jobs, childcare for a professor (3 years), food service in a Mediterranean deli and a Caribbean restaurant, and work-study in the bookstore and student services office. Since graduating from art school with a BFA in 2000 I have supported myself in a variety of ways, mostly as a teacher.
