Recommitting in 2019

Yesterday afternoon I had the privilege of working with two wonderfully creative souls for a brainstorming session. The goal of our meeting was to help my friend develop a business plan and a vision for her gallery/studio space. In the process of developing ideas, it quickly became apparent what a transformative experience her studio would create for all those who would come to visit. I admired her drive and her absolute passion for what her art and what she wanted it to inspire in her audience and patrons, as well as fellow women of color artists. It also made me realize how out of touch I have felt from my own creative process in the past year.

For the past year and change, I had been working long hours at my day job and at the end of the day and on the weekends, I felt physically and mentally depleted. This, of course, left me little energy to really pour into my creative work. Sure, I was creating and remaining committing to making the art but what lacked was the mindfulness behind the process. It was mostly: create something, then share on Instagram with a short caption and then move on to the next thing. I wasn’t putting as much into writing on my blog to give more context behind what I was doing and it was starting to feel soulless. I was just another body on the internet just throwing stuff out there.

It wasn't until I received the exhibition opportunity through Rutgers and the curators inquired about doing an artist talk that I started to slow down to pay attention to what I really was saying with my work. It was immensely gratifying that people were interested in knowing more about the person and the thought process behind what I was creating.

Thankfully, I have had a chance to slow down and take time off to focus, really focus, on my work.I’ve decided to recommit myself to my long-range goals and how I want my art to be impactful. I already know that I don’t want to limit myself to just art gallery shows; they’re too fleeting and sometimes feel more like a “scene” instead of an immersive, thoughtful experience. This is another reason I’m excited about my collaboration with Rutgers because the exhibition will include a discussion with a professor and their class I’ve always longed to create something cerebral with my work and this opportunity is the perfect springboard for that.

I also promise to write more. I was pretty good with blogging and then fell off and fell into the trap of just relying on clever Instagram captions to get by. In hindsight, I realize I was limiting myself. I wasn’t really sharing my creativity with the world and I was missing out on that problem solving and hashing-out that writing brings forth.

So with that said, my promise to myself and to you is that I will recommit myself to my work and to my audience.