These mixed media (yeah, there’s glitter in there!) paintings are the jaw-dropping work of New York based artist Arcmanoro Niles. I’ve pulled a few excerpts to give a little insight:
Shelly, I have to admit, artist statements scare the sh*t out of me. There are full of such big words that my personal journey seems SO insignificant next to them. Because who would care about my, well, moods? (I think my art is super personal, but my inner critic tells me: girl, you can't be ALWAYS saying ME, ME, ME with your stuff!..) And so it is sometimes difficult to find the right words that would bring some significance, but it's doable. I - personally - first make, then think of the meaning. Because there usually is. Free writing (especially the infamous morning pages) helps. There are many tutorials on how to find your visual language and I believe that meaning goes with it - one way or another. (I'm not sure if Danielle didn't write about it once or twice...)
And if you finally write your statement down, don't forget to use the word "juxtaposition". If there's no "juxtaposition" in an artist statement, is it REALLY an artist statement?..
Super! I shall juxtapose my coffee and my journal to scare the sh** out of myself. Was just listening to a Brene Brown podcast with Sue Monk Kidman and they were speaking about how the super personal gets universal. I am so grateful Danielle posted my questions because all the wonderful responses are a balm to heal my weary heart.
Know this feeling, thanks for sharing where you’re at! For me, finding meaningful work meant doing the thing I was most afraid of making: portraits. I was intimidated by them, had no training, and felt like it wasn’t in my creative cards. But simply giving it my best go was enough to open the flood gates. From there, including symbolic images through jewelry, tattoos, clothing, etc. meant I could paint a person who resembled my emotional/spiritual/mental journey in some way. All that to say, if there’s something you would love to do in an ideal world, but feel afraid to try, do it anyway! You may surprise yourself and find the creative blockages breaking through. Once you’re on the other side, play with what makes sense only to you, no matter what anyone else may think or say. You got this, and are capable of more than you know! I’m sure of it. 🥰
Shelly - If we are honest, all artists struggle with this over and over. What feels meaningful at one time may not feel the same later. I love many of these answers. Writing about my feelings, artwork and struggle have always helped me come to terms with what is going on in my mind and by extension my art. If you look for it, you will find what your heart is trying to say, often in tandem with what’s going on in your life. Listening to books and podcasts about other artists can give you insights and aha moments about your own work and purpose. Spend time understanding yourself and reflecting. Where have you come from? Where are you going and why?
The best guidance comes from your own quiet voice that only you can hear. Give yourself permission for your art not to have meaning, and then permission to explore what the meaning might be after you create it. There is no art without meaning. The real challenge is to own the idea that your meaning is important enough to share... because it is!!
Hi Shelly! I agree with below and encourage you to immerse yourself in art. Visit museums, galleries, open studios etc. Seeing art in person is the best but if you can’t then have fun searching on Instagram. Seeing beauty will light a fire within for your own work. Also, it’s a life long process. Sometimes we’re just in fallow fields and have a dry spell. x kg
Haha delightful. Had a flash of self as field in an ‘expiring’ mood… fall where I live and that transition to fallow is firy beauty and a bit melancholy for me.
Dear Shelly—this was a big one for me. I painted in oil, then did lots of collage, then painted portraits. And it was all fine and well but I yearned more and more to do something with *meaning*. For me it ended up happening because my mother was diagnosed with Lewy Body dementia and I spent four harrowing years helping her through the medical system and putting her in a care home, et cetera. I certainly wasn't thinking about creating artwork about it at the time, but one year after she died I started painting her portrait, and it grew from there to become an exhibit and the largest and most impactful artwork I'd ever done. All to say that, you can't order up meaning like you order a coffee. It came to me as I hit 60 years old and had been through a lot of shit. Not to say that it has to be the same for you, haha. I think the best thing you can do is just keep DOING. Keep making art, whether you feel it has "meaning" or not—it's in the doing that there's movement and growth and evolution. And keep writing "shitty first drafts"—if you haven't already, read Anne Lamott's book Bird by Bird (about writing). Just keep at it—things will change and evolve!
Thank you. That is such compassionate counsel. I will find Bird by Bird.
My family is having a rough time right now. I’m able to create pieces in puppetry that allow me to delve into the trickiness of family dynamics (a piece called the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree and I made dried apple puppets of me and my dad. Hahah) I am not there yet with my painting voice, so just keep doing is what I’m going to do.
I had family stuff, too, which made dealing with my Mom's dementia especially tricky. And I've had every artist's block in the book—in fact I'm struggling like hell right now in the aftermath of my show. But I think I really did learn over the course of my last project that *thinking* about painting (which I did for years) is never going to move you forward, but putting brush to paper or canvas will. And you never know... sometimes you'll look back on something that you completely discounted when you made it and go, HUH—this actually isn't half bad! Or... you might see *meaning* in it.
Ugh. Dementia is part of our struggles right now. I mourn the agency my mom has lost and am so grateful for the spark and humour she still holds. No filters and a wide streak of sass.
i’ve been reflecting on what interests me (ambiguity, collaborative meaning making, suggestions of what is beyond the field of vision, playfulness, puns, narratives and feelings). I’m so buoyed up by people’s responses, that I am in the studio, plugging away at a workshop (waiting for paint to dry -thank goodness I don’t have to watch it haha).
I have had both kinds of look backs, as well as hmmm. I have shifted - thought that was great at the time, but don’t think so any more.
Good luck with your Mom's dementia... it's definitely not easy. But in retrospect I wouldn't trade any of what I went through. Glad you're working in the studio!
I saw these works in person last summer in Boston and they were truly some of my favorites. They are truly even more beautiful in person.
Shelley, I agree with Lesley’s comments and we have all been there. Just work on what speaks to you and and eventually with time it will reveal itself, and hopefully ( for my sake as well) continue to do so as you evolve. What’s the old saying? Trust in the process. :)
Lots of good answers here. Here's one that I heard for writers that I think applies to visual artists. Confess. Make work that is totally embarrassing, with the understanding that you won't show it for a while, until you're ready, if you ever are... Confess the weird stuff about you, the strange thing you think is intriguing even though it may be taboo or even worse, boring for others. Don't get cosmic or cool...get super personal. What questions keep you up at night? What freaky thing do you think is gorgeous? What weird dream did you have that you would never share at the breakfast table. Draw it, paint it, go deeper...confess to yourself. Tell the truth even though it scares you! Confess.
Wow! I’ve been thinking about leaning into my discomfort… rather than running away from it, but this is more robust. Painty confessions. Thank you. That is a wonderful invitation. The thought of it even creates a little more spaciousness in my soul.
Something that I have found really helpful is to keep an art journal. It is a safe place to make marks and express myself freely. I don't have to show it to anyone but I can look back over the years and see themes and colour stories etc. I play in a journal on a regular basis as it is a form of creative discipline.
I really struggle with this. I was stuck inside journals for a lot of years, and now have a bin of works in progress and a shelf full of unfinished journals. Do you just work through one journal, or go between different ones? I am trying with focus - puppetry, teaching, brain dump, specific course work… but it gets a bit much.
I mostly finish my journals at least now I do. In the past, there have been some where I didn't use every page. I have chosen to look at them as finished though. It is okay to move on and leave empty pages. I have a more than one journal going at a time. I have a lot of ideas and creativity and it has to come out! Also, while one page is drying then I can work in another journal. I like to think of my journals as a mental health practice as well. Making art is so healthy and I can get cranky if I go without doing it for too long. You do have a lot on your plate but maybe that is why a journal is perfect for you. You can spend as little as five minutes putting something on a page. It doesn't have to be good or pretty or finished. No pressure. And if you don't enjoy doing it then don't do it.
I’m thinking if I just start the habit, I can build it. Yay pathway to joy. My friend laughs at me because I complicate things so I have to keep this simple so I don’t ‘goal set’ myself out of doing and strip away the joy with a sense of too much work.
Oh man Shelly, thank you for asking this question! I too struggle with finding meaning in my work, and have stopped painting for months because of it. What helped me get back in the groove: The Creative Habit by Twyla Tharp, realizing that I didn't need to know all the answers, and pulling out all the artwork I had done in the last two years and laying them out together to see what kind of stories they were telling. Pay attention to those tiny little things that make your socks go up and down and see where they take you. Hope this helps!
I think we've all been there before. I would say that art can be meaningful in different ways. Seek out things that create wonder, that dazzle or delight you, make you introspective, etc. I think these things can be your guide as you continue to develop your conceptual interests. I would say don't worry about what a work is saying, make something that speaks to you and, in time, it will reveal itself.
Turn my internal dial. I think of driving in distance, trying to find a good radio channel. So much noise in my mind… I’ve had water bears on the mind lately. So funky. Thank you.
Oh wow this is just where I am dipping my toes too! I feel like I like what I am creating, and how, and now I want to go deeper and find the meaning, or make the meaning. I am focusing on how I feel when I create, listening to my body when I create, and looking for my personal visual vocabulary, the stuff that comes naturally in my work. I think I lost all of that innate knowledge of myself for a long time, and now have to work hard to "see" it and love it in my work. And in my life.
Thank you. I’m going to set the intention of a one minute sit and breathe when I go into my studio. I can see myself when I am in flow state, and I’m enjoying marks, and colour and form. It’s when intention gets in the mix that I get mixed up. When I have dared to give myself permission to stretch my abilities I have found joy (on a few big occasions … displeasure with the ugliness on others).
Shelly, I feel you! Having transitioned recently from assemblage work to collage and abstract painting I am back in that place of finding my voice. Again. With assemblage it was an external thing...how does this grommet relate to that doodad...but with collage and painting, there's composition and colour and how do I express myself, what do I want to say, how do I want this thing to look and feel. So. Many. Questions! I don't have answers. But. What I do know is nothing makes up for doing the work. Keep making. And noticing. What marks make you happy? What colours make your heart sing? What visuals leave you breathless? These are clues. Make more of THOSE. Eventually, you'll be making work that is intrinsically yours. Good luck!
For Shelly. It seems to me you lost contact with your inner creative source. Your mind took over and your inner critic is in control now. My advice would be to contact your inner creative source again through intuitive working, experimenting, and markmaking. A good creative coach can help you if you think you need one. Or read ‘big magic’ , and ‘your inner critic is a jerk’.
Danielle’s book is funny and creative. Big magic gave me guidance how to deal with fear, and to get compassion for fear. Because it is my own fear, my own inner critic. Her letter: “dear fear, we are going on a road trip”, struck me. It is in part one ‘courage’ at the end of that chapter. ( I read it in dutch, so i hope i got the right word for the title of that chapter. )
I wish you all the best on your journey with creativity, and fear a.k.a. inner critic.
I did enjoy that part. Thank you for the reminder. I’m taking a ‘free up your sketchbook” course from Karen Stamper (not cheap, thought about it for a long time before committing, but it’s worthwhile. So enjoying the mark making and exploration. Reminding myself it doesn’t have to be anything because it is in a sketchbook.
Such interesting responses to Shelley’s question! On another note... I LOVE Arcmanoro Niles’s work!
Shelly, I have to admit, artist statements scare the sh*t out of me. There are full of such big words that my personal journey seems SO insignificant next to them. Because who would care about my, well, moods? (I think my art is super personal, but my inner critic tells me: girl, you can't be ALWAYS saying ME, ME, ME with your stuff!..) And so it is sometimes difficult to find the right words that would bring some significance, but it's doable. I - personally - first make, then think of the meaning. Because there usually is. Free writing (especially the infamous morning pages) helps. There are many tutorials on how to find your visual language and I believe that meaning goes with it - one way or another. (I'm not sure if Danielle didn't write about it once or twice...)
And if you finally write your statement down, don't forget to use the word "juxtaposition". If there's no "juxtaposition" in an artist statement, is it REALLY an artist statement?..
;)
Super! I shall juxtapose my coffee and my journal to scare the sh** out of myself. Was just listening to a Brene Brown podcast with Sue Monk Kidman and they were speaking about how the super personal gets universal. I am so grateful Danielle posted my questions because all the wonderful responses are a balm to heal my weary heart.
Know this feeling, thanks for sharing where you’re at! For me, finding meaningful work meant doing the thing I was most afraid of making: portraits. I was intimidated by them, had no training, and felt like it wasn’t in my creative cards. But simply giving it my best go was enough to open the flood gates. From there, including symbolic images through jewelry, tattoos, clothing, etc. meant I could paint a person who resembled my emotional/spiritual/mental journey in some way. All that to say, if there’s something you would love to do in an ideal world, but feel afraid to try, do it anyway! You may surprise yourself and find the creative blockages breaking through. Once you’re on the other side, play with what makes sense only to you, no matter what anyone else may think or say. You got this, and are capable of more than you know! I’m sure of it. 🥰
That really cheers me. Yay!
Shelly - If we are honest, all artists struggle with this over and over. What feels meaningful at one time may not feel the same later. I love many of these answers. Writing about my feelings, artwork and struggle have always helped me come to terms with what is going on in my mind and by extension my art. If you look for it, you will find what your heart is trying to say, often in tandem with what’s going on in your life. Listening to books and podcasts about other artists can give you insights and aha moments about your own work and purpose. Spend time understanding yourself and reflecting. Where have you come from? Where are you going and why?
The best guidance comes from your own quiet voice that only you can hear. Give yourself permission for your art not to have meaning, and then permission to explore what the meaning might be after you create it. There is no art without meaning. The real challenge is to own the idea that your meaning is important enough to share... because it is!!
Thank you. That is really beautiful.
Love your insights and suggestions :)
Hi Shelly! I agree with below and encourage you to immerse yourself in art. Visit museums, galleries, open studios etc. Seeing art in person is the best but if you can’t then have fun searching on Instagram. Seeing beauty will light a fire within for your own work. Also, it’s a life long process. Sometimes we’re just in fallow fields and have a dry spell. x kg
Haha delightful. Had a flash of self as field in an ‘expiring’ mood… fall where I live and that transition to fallow is firy beauty and a bit melancholy for me.
Dear Shelly—this was a big one for me. I painted in oil, then did lots of collage, then painted portraits. And it was all fine and well but I yearned more and more to do something with *meaning*. For me it ended up happening because my mother was diagnosed with Lewy Body dementia and I spent four harrowing years helping her through the medical system and putting her in a care home, et cetera. I certainly wasn't thinking about creating artwork about it at the time, but one year after she died I started painting her portrait, and it grew from there to become an exhibit and the largest and most impactful artwork I'd ever done. All to say that, you can't order up meaning like you order a coffee. It came to me as I hit 60 years old and had been through a lot of shit. Not to say that it has to be the same for you, haha. I think the best thing you can do is just keep DOING. Keep making art, whether you feel it has "meaning" or not—it's in the doing that there's movement and growth and evolution. And keep writing "shitty first drafts"—if you haven't already, read Anne Lamott's book Bird by Bird (about writing). Just keep at it—things will change and evolve!
Thank you. That is such compassionate counsel. I will find Bird by Bird.
My family is having a rough time right now. I’m able to create pieces in puppetry that allow me to delve into the trickiness of family dynamics (a piece called the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree and I made dried apple puppets of me and my dad. Hahah) I am not there yet with my painting voice, so just keep doing is what I’m going to do.
I had family stuff, too, which made dealing with my Mom's dementia especially tricky. And I've had every artist's block in the book—in fact I'm struggling like hell right now in the aftermath of my show. But I think I really did learn over the course of my last project that *thinking* about painting (which I did for years) is never going to move you forward, but putting brush to paper or canvas will. And you never know... sometimes you'll look back on something that you completely discounted when you made it and go, HUH—this actually isn't half bad! Or... you might see *meaning* in it.
Ugh. Dementia is part of our struggles right now. I mourn the agency my mom has lost and am so grateful for the spark and humour she still holds. No filters and a wide streak of sass.
i’ve been reflecting on what interests me (ambiguity, collaborative meaning making, suggestions of what is beyond the field of vision, playfulness, puns, narratives and feelings). I’m so buoyed up by people’s responses, that I am in the studio, plugging away at a workshop (waiting for paint to dry -thank goodness I don’t have to watch it haha).
I have had both kinds of look backs, as well as hmmm. I have shifted - thought that was great at the time, but don’t think so any more.
Good luck with your Mom's dementia... it's definitely not easy. But in retrospect I wouldn't trade any of what I went through. Glad you're working in the studio!
I saw these works in person last summer in Boston and they were truly some of my favorites. They are truly even more beautiful in person.
Shelley, I agree with Lesley’s comments and we have all been there. Just work on what speaks to you and and eventually with time it will reveal itself, and hopefully ( for my sake as well) continue to do so as you evolve. What’s the old saying? Trust in the process. :)
Lots of good answers here. Here's one that I heard for writers that I think applies to visual artists. Confess. Make work that is totally embarrassing, with the understanding that you won't show it for a while, until you're ready, if you ever are... Confess the weird stuff about you, the strange thing you think is intriguing even though it may be taboo or even worse, boring for others. Don't get cosmic or cool...get super personal. What questions keep you up at night? What freaky thing do you think is gorgeous? What weird dream did you have that you would never share at the breakfast table. Draw it, paint it, go deeper...confess to yourself. Tell the truth even though it scares you! Confess.
Wow! I’ve been thinking about leaning into my discomfort… rather than running away from it, but this is more robust. Painty confessions. Thank you. That is a wonderful invitation. The thought of it even creates a little more spaciousness in my soul.
Love it. It's good advice for myself too! haha. It takes a lot of courage.
this is really great! I’m going to explore this. thank you!
Love this!
Something that I have found really helpful is to keep an art journal. It is a safe place to make marks and express myself freely. I don't have to show it to anyone but I can look back over the years and see themes and colour stories etc. I play in a journal on a regular basis as it is a form of creative discipline.
I really struggle with this. I was stuck inside journals for a lot of years, and now have a bin of works in progress and a shelf full of unfinished journals. Do you just work through one journal, or go between different ones? I am trying with focus - puppetry, teaching, brain dump, specific course work… but it gets a bit much.
I mostly finish my journals at least now I do. In the past, there have been some where I didn't use every page. I have chosen to look at them as finished though. It is okay to move on and leave empty pages. I have a more than one journal going at a time. I have a lot of ideas and creativity and it has to come out! Also, while one page is drying then I can work in another journal. I like to think of my journals as a mental health practice as well. Making art is so healthy and I can get cranky if I go without doing it for too long. You do have a lot on your plate but maybe that is why a journal is perfect for you. You can spend as little as five minutes putting something on a page. It doesn't have to be good or pretty or finished. No pressure. And if you don't enjoy doing it then don't do it.
Thank you. I’ll give it a shot with the intention of 5 mins a day and see where that takes me.
Enjoy those five minutes to the fullest!
I’m thinking if I just start the habit, I can build it. Yay pathway to joy. My friend laughs at me because I complicate things so I have to keep this simple so I don’t ‘goal set’ myself out of doing and strip away the joy with a sense of too much work.
I applaud you for keeping it simple! Baby steps and low expectations can do wonders.
Oh man Shelly, thank you for asking this question! I too struggle with finding meaning in my work, and have stopped painting for months because of it. What helped me get back in the groove: The Creative Habit by Twyla Tharp, realizing that I didn't need to know all the answers, and pulling out all the artwork I had done in the last two years and laying them out together to see what kind of stories they were telling. Pay attention to those tiny little things that make your socks go up and down and see where they take you. Hope this helps!
I love it. Me and my socks and Twyla. I am looking forward to it. Thank you.
….”make your socks go up and down”!!!! YES!! LOVE!! 😆 👏🏻
Shelly,
I think we've all been there before. I would say that art can be meaningful in different ways. Seek out things that create wonder, that dazzle or delight you, make you introspective, etc. I think these things can be your guide as you continue to develop your conceptual interests. I would say don't worry about what a work is saying, make something that speaks to you and, in time, it will reveal itself.
Turn my internal dial. I think of driving in distance, trying to find a good radio channel. So much noise in my mind… I’ve had water bears on the mind lately. So funky. Thank you.
Oh wow this is just where I am dipping my toes too! I feel like I like what I am creating, and how, and now I want to go deeper and find the meaning, or make the meaning. I am focusing on how I feel when I create, listening to my body when I create, and looking for my personal visual vocabulary, the stuff that comes naturally in my work. I think I lost all of that innate knowledge of myself for a long time, and now have to work hard to "see" it and love it in my work. And in my life.
Thank you. I’m going to set the intention of a one minute sit and breathe when I go into my studio. I can see myself when I am in flow state, and I’m enjoying marks, and colour and form. It’s when intention gets in the mix that I get mixed up. When I have dared to give myself permission to stretch my abilities I have found joy (on a few big occasions … displeasure with the ugliness on others).
Shelly, I feel you! Having transitioned recently from assemblage work to collage and abstract painting I am back in that place of finding my voice. Again. With assemblage it was an external thing...how does this grommet relate to that doodad...but with collage and painting, there's composition and colour and how do I express myself, what do I want to say, how do I want this thing to look and feel. So. Many. Questions! I don't have answers. But. What I do know is nothing makes up for doing the work. Keep making. And noticing. What marks make you happy? What colours make your heart sing? What visuals leave you breathless? These are clues. Make more of THOSE. Eventually, you'll be making work that is intrinsically yours. Good luck!
Thank you. I had a few great gelli plate sessions. Lots of meh but a few that jazzed me. i’m going to look at what I did and do more.
For Shelly. It seems to me you lost contact with your inner creative source. Your mind took over and your inner critic is in control now. My advice would be to contact your inner creative source again through intuitive working, experimenting, and markmaking. A good creative coach can help you if you think you need one. Or read ‘big magic’ , and ‘your inner critic is a jerk’.
I’m going to try Danielle’s book. I started big magic and did not finish.
Danielle’s book is funny and creative. Big magic gave me guidance how to deal with fear, and to get compassion for fear. Because it is my own fear, my own inner critic. Her letter: “dear fear, we are going on a road trip”, struck me. It is in part one ‘courage’ at the end of that chapter. ( I read it in dutch, so i hope i got the right word for the title of that chapter. )
I wish you all the best on your journey with creativity, and fear a.k.a. inner critic.
I did enjoy that part. Thank you for the reminder. I’m taking a ‘free up your sketchbook” course from Karen Stamper (not cheap, thought about it for a long time before committing, but it’s worthwhile. So enjoying the mark making and exploration. Reminding myself it doesn’t have to be anything because it is in a sketchbook.
Yes! Mark making and exploring, just following your instinct. That’s where the magic begins. I wish you all the best on this new journey.
Thanks so much! I am making great ones and all the crappy ones I need to make to arrive at the good ones!
a nice feel in his work, lots of room for interpretation and pondering, i'll watch out for more from Arcmanoro Niles....