Link to full podcast: https://soundcloud.com/heelhang/the-artists-circle-finding-your-voice
“The only way to find your voice is to use it.” - Jen Mueller
Prompt:
Our artistic voice comes from the specific choices we make as artists, so, what are some of the intentional choices you have made or make regularly that you feel define your work. And, are there any choices you feel you should make in the future to further develop your voice?
My Answer:
The way that I craft sequences and acts IS my voice. I make specific choices that I feel confident about, that feel good, and that feel like ME. I think that I need to make choices in the future that are based around things that I like instead of what I think other people will like.
Thoughts and Actions:
What is a voice? Your voice is a unique and recognizable artistic style that is distinctly your own; your inspiration, your materials, and techniques all working together in a way that looks like it comes from you and no one else. It is your agency with which to express something. It is a combination of personal experience, technical capability, and preference.
You voice is something you have to actively develop. You need to both look for it and let it naturally evolve. You have to give yourself permission to explore and own it.
It takes confidence, courage, and conviction. Socially, we are taught to busy our voice to fit in. So it’s not natural or easy. But with practice, the process does get easier.
You will take risks, you will fail, you will feel vulnerable and even worthless… all in the name of crafting your own unique identity as an artist. If you are really doing it, it won’t be easy, you will suffer but it will be worth it.
The process of finding your voice is like uncovering your superpower. Your artistic voice is what sets you apart and, ultimately, what makes your work interesting, distinctive, and desired by others
What is the process?
Ignore conformity.
Speak your truth and find your point of view - unique perspective, life experience, identity, and values
Find your style or styles.
Focus on building skills but don’t be tied to them - skill is only one element - with greater skill, you’ll create richer and more complex work
Look at your chosen medium or apparatus - be open but also true to yourself.
Be consistent - when you decide what you like, its like following a set of unwritten rules.
Tell your story - creativity that has meaning is more relatable.
You have to give it away to get it - If we are too full nothing can enter, so give back what you’ve received from the universe.
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