I am 20 years old and studying to become a sculptor. The problem is that… Eh… I‘m not really into it. Not that I dislike it, it‘s just that I don‘t really care that much about sculpting. And the issue is that I kind of know what I want to do with myself, but I am also too afraid to do it. I‘ll try to explain. Ever since I was little, I was an artsy person: I drew a lot, and got actually really good at it (I mean it, “academic art” type of good), finished one art school, then another and then got into the university that I am currently in. The thing is that studying here for more than a year got me thinking if I really want to pursue this career: I feel like wasting time, I live abroad and am sometimes homesick (my granny now lives alone), my dad keeps on telling me that he has no hopes for me (props to him for helping me financially tho), I started popping pills from time to time etc… Meanwhile, this summer two of my closest friends got me into fashion design (one of them is currently studying to become a fashion designer): we did some clothes together, I sketched a bit for both of them/with them and actually enjoyed it a lot. And they‘re some actually talented guys; they know their way around a bit and are inspired by trap and punk culture. It just feels different. And I do realize that it might be a passion of mine only for a few months or so, but still… I also care about the way I look a lot more now than I did a few years back. I do not care about sculpting nearly as much. The question is: should I leave sculpting and try to get into fashion design; or should I finish studying here for another two years and see what‘s next?
P.S. My dad will, most likely, get mad at me for leaving sculpting. On the other hand, I might stay in the same university and study for a fashion designer or come home and do the same thing. Hmm… I‘m not sure.
From one artist to another: if you don’t absolutely love what you’re doing and know 100% what you’re going to do with your degree, get out now.
If you like fashion design, learn how to do it as a hobby first, and get a degree in something with actual opportunities. If you get really good at fashion design, you can build a portfolio and pivot to that, but as someone who struggled with an art degree, it can set you back for years if you don’t have a reliable plan.
And if you have a reliable degree and later find that you don’t want to do fashion anymore, you’ll still have that reliable fallback as you move onto other hobbies.