On how my first physical exhibition in a foreign country came from volunteering on Betterplace.org

Words and images by @serste

('Red deer teeth', one of my works for the Ucki Project's exhibition in Germany, was inspired by the mesolithic child burial discovered in Gros-Fredenwalde)

In 2016 I was desperate for giving a meaning to years of art studies.

I had lots of social accounts to showcase my work: instagram, two facebook profiles, artstation, cgsociety, behance... and so on (you know the drill).

'social me' made on Dada.nyc

Although people did like my scribbles, I was feeling totally useless: I've always felt Art is all about communication, and I was saying nothing to unknown people; my drawings and paintings were just demonstrations of my lonely monologue.

So I've started to look for a new challenge and I've found betterplace.org.

You might think 'here we are, another 'artist' incapable of getting paid that 'decides' to do it for free'... and you'd be right! As I've admitted, I was desperate for a meaning, and I was not going to find it in likes and shares.

I was just starting to understand the betterplace's rules when I came to a call for illustrators for an archaeological burial site in Germany... without hesitations I sent my portfolio to Donata, the kind soul which would become my contact and guide in Uckermark; with my disbelief, she was amazed by my work, and we started a fertile collaboration which landed to a digital memory game about Pleistocene Mammals with my graphic contribution (you can play it by clicking on 'play the memory game' on the bottom right of my site's main page ---> https://serestelitano.wixsite.com/thepencilholder I can't score less than 36 seconds).

Although it all started as a volunteering experience, pretty soon Donata felt the urge to pay me back, and started by sending me some of the prehistory-inspired goods she sells to sustain the Ucki Project: honey, some paleo cake and bread, and a beautiful mesolithic-like spear tip (still one of my most valuable possessions).

My drawings had finally a purpose and I felt the appreciation of my remote collaborators: I now had a specific audience to talk to, and the research and production process felt more and more meaningful.

(Inhabitants of Pleistocene Europe, some work in progress)

Donata was then very pleased with my work and decided to pay me for it.
This unexpected surprise gave me a moment of pure joy, and helped a bit my economic situation of struggling housewife with an artsy hobby.

Not much later she asked me to work on a new series, this time consisting in four or five pieces on the daily life of proto-north-europeans; she gave me free choice of style and subject, and paid me in advantage for putting together my own personal exhibition. (<--- what!?)

... I am still flattered, while trying to write a short bio of myself as an 'artist', as she kindly requested.

A few years ago it would be impossible for me to even imagine this amount of attention in my drawings: they were a very private thing I had almost forbidden to myself.

So here's a a sneak-peek of some works featured in my first physical exhibition in a foreign country, hope you'll enjoy them: I'll better go back to writing my own bio (<--- to the records: this is not a good way to keep someone's narcissistic tendencies under control :P)

Have a good day, and thank you for your time!

Serste