Goodbye 2025, Hello 2026

Hello everyone!

While 2025 started off nicely for me, with my art residency in Busan, South Korea, the rest of the year turned out to be quite challenging.

I never really know how much I should share about my own struggles as a full-time artist, as I’m often torn between keeping a clean professional façade and sharing more behind-the-scenes. Deep down, I’m afraid that showing the struggles will push people away, either because of judgment or because I’m not worth investing in.

Truth be told, I used to be more verbal about what I was working on and why, and I used to blog every week. But social media as a whole has killed this part of me. Ironically, social media itself is now killing itself, so I’ve been wanting to get back to writing more, without overthinking every story I want to tell.

MONEY

So what happened? Economically, the world is facing a recession, which means fewer art sales. All sectors are feeling this, and in the art world specifically, galleries are closing, and artists are trying to find day jobs. I personally didn’t sell a single artwork between February and October — and this is my full-time job — so I had to live off my savings while also dealing with the stress of wondering if this art career of mine is already somewhat over. (Hence the visceral fear of saying this out loud to potential art collectors.)

Money-wise, it’s been tight, but I don’t live alone and I live in a small town, so I can keep living costs minimal. My financial situation isn’t terrible; it’s just not sustainable in the long run. The plan for the coming year is to get back to creating more classes and tutorials on Skillshare, as this is the only thing I can think of that has worked for me.

Luckily, I managed to sell a few artworks at the end of the year, which allowed me to put money aside again. But still, the future prospects are shaky at best. I don’t see the world economy improving anytime soon: the climate crisis is worsening, animal populations are collapsing drastically, and fascism is on the rise everywhere. And we also have a few wars to add to this very dark picture. Existential dread is very real these days.

SOCIAL MEDIA

To add to that rather bleak situation, social media and their algorithms have taken a profound anti-artist turn. That sounds a bit drastic, but let me explain.

Content creation has never been harder. The only possible way to get engagement and be seen is to create viral content — the only way to reach followers nowadays. Art is not always entertaining or fun in that way. Art is often uncomfortable, takes time to create, and is inherently quiet. Trying to grab attention through meaningful art has become harder than ever.

To top that, AI is also taking over social media. AI “art” (which is not art at all, let me be very clear) and generally AI slop is creating noise, adding another type of competition that is impossible to surpass.

Artists like myself, who poured years into gaining a decent following, have suddenly been stripped of their voice — at a time when it is more needed than ever.

The whole situation is very discouraging. Posting on these platforms feels almost pointless, considering the amount of time invested for so little engagement.

BURN-OUT

I experienced the social media shift quite viscerally when trying to promote my artbook “Utopia”. (which is going to go through test prints coming days)
The more I posted, the less engagement I received. Selling 150 copies to get this book published seemed like an impossible task. I truly felt desperate at that moment, as if my life had suddenly stopped.

I know how dramatic that sounds, but I had never felt that low before. It wasn’t just another slap on the ego (as we experience more than enough as artists); it felt like the end of an era. In hindsight, I think that’s exactly what’s happening right now.

When I finally managed to reach the 150-copy threshold — thanks to online art magazines and friends — I fell hard into depression. Which is the way my brain works, so I’m used to it. However, this time it was rougher: not just because of my brain chemistry, but also because of the general outlook of life.

I know I’m going to be alright — it always gets better. Either the situation sorts itself out, or you accept the new situation. Either way, you move on.

ARTWORKS OF 2025

To finish on a more positive note, here is a recap of the artworks I did this year.
Some are still available, you can check my own webshop or see what is available through art galleries.

2026?

On another positive note, I already have group and solo shows lined up, so rationally my art career is doing fine. It’s just the financial side that worries me.

I’ve also decided to work on a graphic novel as a side project. I don’t want to say too much, as I don’t have much to show yet, but it’s going to be quite different: I’ll tell the story of my stepmother. I’ve always wanted to create a graphic novel, and over the holidays, her story finally unfolded — now I need to turn it into something.

On that note, I wish you all a beautiful 2026! I truly hope you’re doing OK.
I will try to blog a little more often — maybe not weekly, though.

xx