polliwrites

[polliwrites]

What Makes Someone an Artist? A Personal Reflection on Creativity and Identity

That is, indeed, a tricky question for me. Why? Well…

As Google says:

“An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating an art.”

Creating art, huh? First of all, let’s determine what art is.

“A vehicle for the expression or communication of emotions and ideas, a means for exploring and appreciating formal elements for their own sake, and as mimesis or representation.”

A vehicle for the expression. Interesting, right? Expressing yourself is an essential part of art and everyday life if you wish. Here’s a little bit of my story: I have always loved photography. I started taking my first “artistic” shots back in 2016 when I was in middle school. My way of expressing myself — then and now — is about seeing ordinary things from a different perspective (I’m going back to photography talks and articles soon! So I hope you’ll be able to see what I mean). I believe I can show people my vision and how I see things — that is communication and showing emotions with your art.

Formal elements mean valuing things like color, shape, and composition only because they are visually beautiful, without the need to represent something real. They refer to the fundamental building blocks of art (line, shape, color, texture, balance, etc. While representation means realism, like a realistic portrait or landscape, with a certain meaning. And I’ve realized I love both. I have photos of objects without any specific meaning, only capturing them because they look beautiful, like a broccoli on a fork (yes, that’s the real photo I’ve taken). I love to put meaning into what seems like a simple photo, but in reality, it could mean a lot. I love telling stories, whether the ones I’ve imagined or experienced, through art. Photography was my first love in the world of art.

Now that we kind of understand what art is, let’s see who the artist is? An artist is someone who creates, practices and demonstrates art. This is not always visual arts only, such as painting, drawing, photography, and architecture. It’s also music, dance, theater, literature, film, digital art, and even culinary or performance art. Any type of expressing yourself telling your story.

I graduated from university with a Bachelor’s Degree in graphic design, but my studies weren’t limited to design-related subjects. We also practiced drawing portraits, objects, and fruits on a piece of clothing, as well as simple geometric forms like circles and triangles, to understand the fundamental shapes the world around us is made from. It was fun and all, until I heard that some teachers don’t accept anime, for example, as a “real” art. I didn’t pay much attention then. But now, since I’m diving more into the art community, I can hear more people complain about such a thing (or is it just my recommendations?). And this is disturbing. If you love drawing anime characters, or anything else, go for it! It’s your way of expressing yourself. It can be your style or simply the thing you love drawing the most. And there’s nothing wrong with it! I used to draw ponies and human versions of them a lot, but even then, I put meaning into my art. Sometimes not, tho. Simply copying a scene from a movie was perfectly fine for me. No meaning, pure fun.

What’s the point of my little stories? It’s simple — I never thought about myself as an artist. Some people would call me it and I thought they were just being nice or polite. I was primarily drawing My Little Pony characters, then tried doing portraits of celebrities, then I dived into logo and brand identity creation. And now? I’m not sure what I want to draw. I tried creating my sticker pack and ended up creating several sketches, one of which turned out to be a logo for my Substack.

I tried my best to continue being a “true artist”, forcing myself to draw again, so I ended up burnt out quickly. I’ve learned that I still want to create. I want to draw sometimes, if I have inspiration, take photos occasionally, but only when I feel like it. And that is okay! Art isn’t about forcing yourself. It’s about enjoying the process. Maybe I’ll never settle with one thing. And that is also okay! Now I found myself writing my little blog here, telling my story and, maybe, it’ll help someone understand — you love creating? You’re an artist! You can’t keep up with consistency and create only when you really want to? You’re an artist! You take one photo per month but with a deep meaning? You’re an artist! No meaning, just beauty? Still an artist!

Don’t listen to anyone but yourself and your true desires.

[polliwrites]

About to write an article about Melanie Martinez' amazing art.

So I've been a Melanie Martinez fan for a while now, I absolutely love her work and her DEEP art with a lot of meanings and messages. I'd love to explore it a little more and write a piece about it🌸

[polliwrites]

All That Glitters: ‘Hustlers’ Glamourous Aesthetic and Impact on Young Women, A Personal Perspective.

“This city, this whole country, is a strip club. You’ve got people tossing the money and people doing the dance.” — Ramona.

This is not a movie review. People have already done that hundreds of times. This is a story about control. And a weird desire to live like beautiful strippers in glitter under the pink soffit lights of a nightclub, escaping a dull and grey world.

Let’s go back in time, specifically to 2019. “Hustlers” came out in September of that year. It brought in around $33 million in its opening weekend in the US and Canada. Inspired by a viral New York Magazine article, the film follows a crew of savvy former strip club employees who band together to turn the tables on their Wall Street clients.

From my perspective, 2019 was the best year of my life. I was starting university, hanging out with friends, and not having many “adult life” issues. I was exploring what I could do and researching how to make money quickly (not like the movie characters, though). I simply lived my life to the fullest.

One day, a friend told me about a movie starring Cardi B, J Lo, and “Betty from Riverdale” (the incredible Lili Reinhart). I thought we needed to see it… And that is where it all began.

The first scene, in which Destiny gets ready to go on stage, already brings us to the middle of the act. Seconds later — straight to the stage with dancing poles, girls spreading all over the club looking for clients, successfully bringing them to private rooms. On the contrary, we see Destiny, who doesn’t succeed like others.

Without even knowing her story yet, I already supported her. She was standing in the middle of the club, surrounded by people and alone at the same time. The “boss” and “call-me-when-you-need-anything” guys are breathing down her neck every night in demand of their cut, and she jealously eyes the girls with much more cash in the dressing room. She gets back home early in the morning from the night shift, then wakes up past lunchtime to go to work again.

The movie explains very well that some women go into stripping because of financial difficulties. Some of the more “professional” strippers complain about their job as if it’s a regular 9-to-5.

Then, the 2007 financial crisis pulls everyone down, including Destiny. The Wall Street guys refuse to pay, so most of the women from the club are forced to find “normal” 9-to-5 jobs. Destiny gets pregnant with her boyfriend, and they break up. The lack of success brings everyone back to the club, but this time, things are different. The main characters become criminals — drugging men and stealing money from them.

“Hustlers” seems so attractive with its glitter and neon lights. But after the first impression, we dive deeper into the movie’s true message.

The main characters only want to earn enough to be independent and live with their kids, giving them only the best. But when is enough? After earning big money, it gets harder to stop, and you simply lose track.

I don’t believe this is just another movie about strippers living in glam and money pools, though. It reveals another side of the job and provides a great example of why this type of movie should be created.

It is hard not to depend on someone, which the main characters wanted to avoid so badly but failed. They relied on men wanting to spend their money on pretty girls. They could’ve bought businesses or several apartments and stopped doing what they did. But they would rather spend their “more than brain surgeon” salary to go shopping for designer bags and shoes every day.

To be independent, you must build it up and not spend every dollar on bags and fur coats from the beginning. It all comes later when you have a place to live and something to get money from for the rest of your life.

By no means do I say stripping is a terrible job. Like every other job, it has pros and cons. It requires specific skills and a people-oriented mindset. Night shifts exist in many other jobs — this one’s just sprinkled with glitter.