Today we’d like to introduce you to Essence Petty.
Hi Essence, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I was born with a Cerulean Blue Crayola crayon in my hand and I haven’t put it down since! Art and creativity was something that came naturally and my environment supported it. Art was something I did before realizing what it was and it continues to be a shapeshifting mirror, constantly taking many different forms and reflecting what I need to learn about myself or the world around me while simultaneously guiding me through it. I graduated with my bachelor’s in Studio Art this past Spring semester and am currently at the drawing board mapping out my next projects and catching up on all the sleep I lost from my many all-nighters! Through spaces like Art Division, Penland School of Craft in North Carolina, I was able to learn more focused and niche subjects in more relaxed settings outside of school and connect with instructors and students from all over the world! Ironically, I have put myself on the backburner for a long time and now that I am post grad with a more confident and relaxed attitude, I finally have the time to start revisiting projects that have been sitting in my journals for years! I’m ecstatic about being able to create the work that I want on my own or anywhere else in the world while continuing to develop the skills I learned through school.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
In 2020, I began pursuing higher education as an arts major but due to the world being relegated to computers, I finished the majority of my career online—which I personally enjoyed. Outside of school as a teenager, I opened up my etsy store and sold my first collection of prints. I have vended at a few shows selling a variety of works in more niche and local spaces but this significantly boosted my confidence. As a self taught artist in terms of media, ethos and execution, there were no rules, just desirable and undesirable results. Nothing was ever explicitly right or wrong. However as I moved further along through school and began getting involved in art institutions outside of school, I found myself having to conform to unwritten rules, expectations and trajectories. Despite my work being successful, in school the black noses I drew were “wrong”,my ethos was lacking in substance and therefore “wrong”, and I found that the constructive criticism I was receiving was actually coaxing my to reconstruct my work to become more palatable for a white audience. The art curriculum in institutions is incredibly eurocentric and we are held to the standards of European Grandmasters who have traveled to many countries around the world as inspiration for their works. The only time I ever learned of other artists of color were in elective art history classes while western art history was quintessential to one’s degree path. Having to discern critique that’s constructive or one pushing their opinion onto me was one of the hardest lessons I had to learn–especially when the first thing you are taught in an art class was to not be defensive. But as the only black person in rooms as small at 20 to being 1 of 7 in a room of 300, it was easy for me to feel like my work was not “proper” art when there were hardly any other people making work that depicts black subjects. Three years into art school, I began to burn out. I wasn’t making any work for myself, and I was being held to standards that do not align with what I would like to share and I had enough work to do for a month of Sundays. I began to wonder if I was in school for the wrong thing, but my success opposed any doubtful thoughts of me being an artist. The racism I faced in day to day life made me much more of a hermit once I transferred to University. Despite beginning to have a disdain for school, I was able to see beyond my temporary feelings and understand that despite school reforming a lot of things about me and my work, this was an incredible opportunity that would work for me and my community, even if I cannot see them yet. In summary, if I were to give any lessons from my experience it would be:
. Take constructive criticism that furthers your vision, not something that belittles your work and makes you conform to something else. Some people give critique from a hurt or spiteful place and it’s important to understand that some things just don’t align with what you want to do. And that doesn’t make you or your critic “wrong” just opposing differences–which is very okay! And not conforming to what people tell you to do doesn’t mean you didn’t listen. You just simply took it into consideration and decided what you preferred to do.
. Art is alive and moving! We will continue to have work that is less and less authentic if we keep following formulas and copying what worked for artists of a different time. What worked for Basquiat or Monet will probably not work for us. And this isn’t something that reflects your skill as an artist. One day we will be documented in history and in order for us to have our own movement and era, it calls for authenticity, originality and experimentation!
. Art school is definitely not for everybody! But learning is! Checking out tutorial books from the library and learning to draw with your friends from youtube videos is how I furthered my skills before school. Three months post grad and I’m already back into my old ways. Furthermore there are many art spaces outside of formal institutions where you can commit to learning something! Educating yourself will never be a waste.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
Primarily known as an illustrator, I enjoy markers, colored pencils, paint (gouache, oil, acrylic and watercolor) and collaging with different kinds of paper, including origami. I still enjoy crayola crayons, glitter glue, patterned scissors and all that stuff you loved as a kid. Other trades I do outside of painting are ink with pen and nib, wood working, jewelry metals and wire wrapping, digital illustration, animation, sculpture and I recently picked up bookbinding and glassblowing! And the tiniest bit of graphic design! I’m bad at it but that doesn’t stop me. I aspire to further my glassblowing education and pick up furniture fabrication next! Most of my work revolves around black women being able to rest. In museums Black people in particular are often shown in our darkest moments of history. There are hardly ever paintings of us lounging around our homes or laying down in grass reading a book. I like to make work that humanizes us and even allows us to indulge in fantasy. Outside of that, the rest of the work I create comes from my love of nature and the need to document and archive the beauty I find in everyday life. The thought of restricting myself to one medium has never occurred to me.. I often learn about myself through different media–which is what I am most proud of when it comes to my work. Gouache taught me the importance of not operating in extremes–too much paint or water can lead to undesirable results and the same can easily be applicable in real life.
What matters most to you?
What matters most to me at the moment is community and wellbeing. I think a lot of people haven’t fully realized the impact Covid Quarantine has had on us individually and collectively. Many of us are operating from an emotionally unregulated point of view without realizing it. We are more connected than ever but socializing has never been more difficult. And now we consume enormous amounts of overstimulating content that does little to nothing good for us. Moving forward as I think about what I want to say in my work, I want to create images that begin to show people how to regulate their nervous system and learn about…everything! I believe that when one has the luxury of going to school, there is an opportunity to pay your education forward. I believe that my degree isn’t just for me but for the community that supports me. Secondly, as our world is rapidly changing, I feel the need to document a lot of things as they are. Art is the greatest keeper of history and knowledge. I absolutely love my neighborhood Leimert Park and it is in the process of being gentrified. Art allows me to document things as they are and they will be able to withstand time because of that. History is incredibly important to me and we will be the next generation’s elders and ancestors. I would like whoever that comes after us to see the world we lived in and aspire to do and be more after looking at what was.
Pricing:
- Paintings: $25-$500
- Tables: $70 minimum
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.majiksphere.world/ (although it is currently under construction!)
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/majiksphere/
Image Credits
Hunimoon Ho
Leslie Martinez
