Sourcing Inspiration

Presence of Contentment

I believe the idea of the “tortured artist” has been ingrained as a universal belief regarding creative people. Artists and musicians throughout history have become almost as famous for their works of art as they have for the dark elements of their public (and private) personas. Weather artists are haunted by psychological or drug related issues, they are often thought to derive their creativity and genius from the misery. I don’t buy it. When I’m unhappy or there is an absence of contentment in my life I freeze, I truly cease to think and feel the things that inspire me to create, let alone want to create. Contentment in my life and myself is in fact what drives me to create visual work and explore and discover new ideas. When I don’t feel content or happy with myself, I really don’t even bother getting out of bed.

Presence of Rest

I respond really well to physical comforts. When my body feels good my mind follows suit. Growing up, I was a really serious athlete and some of my most vivid memories of my childhood years include moments in various competitions or practices. One of the most amazing feelings I have ever experienced is the realization of my own physical capability. I have these picture perfect memories of isolated moments half way through an eight mile run or crew race where I would float outside of my body and the physical task at hand and realize the implications of my physical performance. My strong, healthy body was accomplishing something great because of the care and consideration I had it with for days and weeks and months. Great things can happen when you treat yourself right. I always chose to feel physically (and mentally) rested.

Presence of Anger

I wasn’t going to choose to respond to this comparison. I find it important for my own growth to stay positive. Good energy never fails; I believe that you get back exactly what you put out in the world. Inspiration is harder for me to find when I have to wade through the transformative haze that negative thoughts and feelings cast. So, this choice of anger and pity for me was a bit like choosing between apples and apples. Then I started thinking about the kinds of negative energy you can give out and the reactions these negative feelings induce. Pity to me is more of a passive emotion, leaving a person withdrawn, sad, and immobile. Anger on the other hand, is more of an active emotion, with a motivational factor. Anger, not pity has inspired and driven many cultural movements, historic revolutions and has undoubtedly changed the course of history.

Presence of Mystery

Over the past few years I’ve honed in on an effective creative process. I remember feeling suffocated the first semester of freshman year, as my class schedule was limited to classes in the School of Art and Design. I quickly learned that in order to feel inspirited and excited to create new work I needed to diversify the information I was learning about. The more subjects I explored throughout the University, the more complex the content of my work has become. I am motivated to create work biased on new information I can gather and uncover from studying all academic fields.

Presence of Sobriety

There has been a history of substance abuse in my family and in the lives of some of my close friends. For me, mind altering substances represent more of a threat than a freedom. I’ve witnessed the course of peoples lives completely change based on reliance and dependency. I take solace in my innate joy and excitement in creating visual objects. The idea of wanting or needing a substance to make me engage in my work seems to cheapen and almost mock my visceral connection to create.