[Q] You seem to be such a free-spirit; I have to ask what gives you your confidence to be yourself in a time where it seems like most of the people, or more importantly the youth, seem to be struggling to really embrace expressing themselves.
[A] Well I think expression is both terrifying and liberating, especially doing it publicly. To be honest, there’s always a voice in the back of my head that warns me against being confident in who I am, because of the backlash I might receive. I’ve realized that the people who disagree with who I am or the art I make are either insecure in themselves, or simply have a different taste in art, and neither of those are attacks on me! So I just tell that little voice to shut the hell up so I can create, love, and live the way I want.
[Q]Where would you say your inspiration comes from? Has this always been your source of inspiration? I know it seems like motivation can come in waves at times for some creatives.
[A] My inspiration has always been to create something beautiful. When I first started modeling, I thought that meant that I had to be beautiful for a shot to be good. In time though, I realized that the most beautiful pieces I created were pieces that made me and others think or feel. So now, all of my work is centered around making emotion a visible and tangible thing: I want people to feel something when they see my work. I hope that motivation sticks.
[Q] How's the creative scene where you're located? I always feel like it's either a very welcoming kind of atmosphere or it's really hard to get creatives to truly collaborate...even within your own city.
[A] I’ve heard different things about the creative scene in Milwaukee, I think it depends who you talk to. Just the other day my friend was complaining about how the segregation of Milwaukee seeps into a segregated art scene. That was a new concept to me but I absolutely see it. On the other hand though, I’ve never had problems finding people to work with. So I think that Milwaukee is certainly a creative city, and there’s a lot of avenues for collaboration, but we could definitely do better.
[Q] How long have you been professionally creating visual art and charging for your work?
[A] I started 1.5 years ago to model for fun, but I didn’t start charging and truly considering myself a professional until about 6 months ago.
[Q] What's a bit on inspiration you can leave us with; one of your favorite quotes or affirmations?
[A] My favorite quote isn’t necessarily inspiration for art, but it’s inspiration for me to live fully and feel fully.
“Life is beautiful even when it is hard, and reserving judgement is a matter of infinite hope”
That sentence has propelled me through my darkest days and inspired me through the happiest moments 💛