On Being “too expensive”

Pink Seaweed has a bit of a reputation for being “too expensive” and honestly, I can live with that.

What I couldn’t live with is being part of the bigger problem, the constant overbuying, overproducing, overconsumption cycle that’s become completely normal. The churn of stuff that’s here today, forgotten tomorrow, replaced next week because something else has been pushed in front of you.

Paying artists fairly means the work costs what it costs. It isn’t inflated or fancy for the sake of it, it’s just the real price of someone’s time, skill, materials and experience, plus the fact that they’ve made something from nothing. Art doesn’t exist until someone pulls it out of their mind and turns it into something real, with their hands, their hours and their energy. Supporting local artists properly has to mean fair pay, not squeezing people down to compete with mass-produced nonsense.

We’re so used to being sold cheap things quickly that we’ve forgotten what it looks like to buy slowly. I always think of it like a really good pair of school shoes. Yes, they cost more up front, but how many cheap pairs fall apart, get replaced and end up in landfill, costing you twice over in the end? The “expensive” option is often just the one that lasts.

The same goes for art or anything handmade properly. A piece of work from a real artist isn’t meant to be a filler purchase or a quick hit. It’s not something you grab because you’ve been told you need something new this week. Most people come into the gallery and visit a piece a few times before taking the plunge and I love that. It’s slow shopping, considered buying, love-forever choosing, not impulse culture.

Our stock doesn’t arrive in bulk because a trend report said it should. This isn’t fast retail. Pink Seaweed is an independent gallery and the work comes in when it’s ready. It arrives organically because someone has made something and brought it in, fresh from their own brain into reality. That’s what makes it special and that’s what makes it worth protecting.

So yes, if the label is “expensive”, fine. Not because I think Pink Seaweed is expensive, far from it. It’s because we’ve become so used to cheap and disposable that anything made with care, paid fairly and meant to last starts to look unusual.

Overbuying new stuff all the time is so last year. I’d rather fill this space with work that means something, that lasts, that supports real people and that you’ll still love in ten years.

If that’s not your jam, there’s plenty of other fast fashion outlets for you to visit 😜