Yuko Oda

And my takeaway was that art career success is not necessarily based on meritocracy.

So it wasn't really necessarily about just making the best work.

There's so much more involved.

And I think that gave me like an aha moment, like, oh, maybe I've been kind of approaching this whole path in a way that wasn't really helping me.

And I wanted to find out more.

Yeah, I think when I was in my 20s and 30s and some of my 40s, I was thinking, oh, if I get enough group shows and I do enough quantity, it would result in tangible leaps in an upward trajectory.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Some kind of recognition, but I didn't know what that would be.

But I guess it would be like getting a prestigious grant or getting into one of those residencies that are competitive.

I would get some opportunities along the way, but I also felt like there were few and far in between.

I was still struggling also figuring out what was important, what was not important, how to make

my practice sustainable, all of these things felt challenging and confusing.

It was almost like I was saying yes to everything, but then kind of spreading myself too thin and maybe like just kind of making these lateral moves instead of taking a step forward.

That's a very good question because I've been thinking about that.

And in 2024, I had a job position change where before that I'm teaching at UMass Lowell.

But before that, I was in a teaching position where I had to teach more courses and they didn't really regard my research or art practice as much.

But then in 2024, I had an unexpected promotion where now they were like, oh, you can teach less, but we want to see you make your work and do your research, the tenure track position.

And I was shocked because I

I didn't expect this change.

And I also felt like, oh my gosh, this is like an opportunity of a lifetime.