I have been and continue to be committed to art as a tool to ignite, comfort, and discomfort.
In my thirties, I have felt a greater urgency to make art that highlights what it feels like to be racialized, likely due to living in a country that obscures our racism with the idea of "multiculturalism."
I have dedicated a significant portion of my time and artistry to making art that addresses various forms of oppression, including white supremacy, misogyny, and biphobia.
I do use art as a site of protest, particularly in relation to dominant narratives.
I feel like I have had to catch up to the art I've made, and learn from the protagonists I have written, especially in relation to gender.
It's exciting to consider how art, in its ability to reveal, can be ahead of the artist.
Despite the fact that I'm not highly skilled in any visual art, aesthetics have always played a strong role in my art, including my first albums.
I have always considered the aesthetic of a project, including press photos, as a means to further the message of the art itself.
As a brown artist, I have mixed feelings about my relationship to art and my "responsibilities" post-Trump.
I would love to see more dialogue around the "responsibilities" of art consumers - how can audiences better financially support artists we love, artists who are doing the work, so that artists have a more solid foundation upon which to make art?
My art career often feels less like an art career and more like a career in educating, usually by using my body.
I am more likely to get paid for my art if it's presented alongside a white artist, so the questions around value and agency arise: What choices should I make, or do I have to make, if I want to be compensated for my work? Why isn't my art valued on its own?
If anything, I have witnessed the ways my art travels, or is rendered more accessible, when sanctioned by or connected to white artists.
As much as I believe in the capacity for art to create change, and as much as being an artist is physically and emotionally challenging, there is ultimately something a bit comfortable about making art in the comfort of your own home.
Art can sometimes be separate from the artist.
