You must find a reason to fall in love with your art every time you approach your canvas. Devoid of this, the translation of thought to reality will reveal itself as an insurmountable wall. Must your work always have meaning to it beyond mere fascination? I personally don’t think so.
My affection for my art was reignited when it became a reflection of my changing dialect with the world around me. I perceive it as an intimate relationship, one that is nurtured by wants and needs, susceptible to external pressures, but sharpened by a fervent dedication to reinterpreting your bride with the passage of time.
In the embryonic days of my voyage into the seas of creation, I adopted grandiose visions of what my art should be and do, visions that were desirable yet blinding. Ambitious strides toward veneration often met a festering frustration that gradually corroded my capacity to remain content with the present.
Overwhelmed and unfulfilled, one day you may think, “Maybe I should give it all up.” Then you think, very quietly, “That path I crossed on my way from school would be a great spot to shoot at.” “The sky was just a bit more colourful today than it was yesterday.” “The alignment of trees on this trail would make for a great composition.” “I wonder if person x would be down to shoot this weekend.” “Maybe I was overreacting.”
The present will begin to reveal to you that slowly but surely, your eye is becoming more keen. You are able to perceive detail better, colours and combinations more accurately, and your mind is able to more vividly compose imaginary scenes that bring together assets strung across starkly different but surprisingly compatible outlets. All of a sudden, you can picture the vintage piece your friend once wore, complementing the aesthetic of that one graphic alleyway you often pass on your way to the mall.
In this process, you find yourself hungrier to experiment and bring ideas and people together. Following this, in a sense, your ambitions become a lot more momentary: I want to edit this photo, I want to create this design, I have this vision for how I can combine this and that. These short bursts of energy and inspiration become a lot more consistent, and much more centred on processes than outcomes. The world around you becomes a lot more romantic, and the atmosphere becomes one that naturally propels your mind towards worlds previously unimaginable scenes that you can’t wait to bring to through art.
As a Black creator, it is often easy to feel lost in the universe. More so, dedicating yourself to art and creation often comes at costs too high. I ask you to repeatedly fall in love again, and not tire of that sensation. Learn to interpret the flows of the world around you and to channel that into the evolution of your work. What goes too long unchanged often destroys itself.
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