We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Olivia Callender. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Olivia below.
Olivia, appreciate you making time for us and sharing your wisdom with the community. So many of us go through similar pain points throughout our journeys and so hearing about how others overcame obstacles can be helpful. One of those struggles is keeping creativity alive despite all the stresses, challenges and problems we might be dealing with. How do you keep your creativity alive?
I’m learning not to take myself so seriously. I have this professor who had us do “bad drawings” on the first day of class in order to loosen up and not think so hard about our work. We all sat for twenty minutes making bad drawing with crayons just as if we were in kindergarten again. It made me realize that if all I do is create the same art over and over again and never get out of my comfort zone, I’ll lose the passion for creating. The “bad art” is also something more personal than what I usually dedicate my time to, and when you’ve been in art school for four years constantly pumping out extremely polished piece after piece, having some art just for you is quite nice and most times very inspiring. I’ve discovered that this kind of artistry is very important when it comes to keeping my creativity alive.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I am a new York City based illustrator and writer, which basically means I love to tell stories. Ever since I was young and people asked what I wanted to be when I grew up, I was pretty adamant about being an author and illustrator (little Olivia would be so happy that I’m still trying to make that happen). My illustrative work mostly focuses on studies of the world around me, character studies, and the occasional printmaking endeavor. I’ve always found comfort and peace in the mundane and often express that through my drawing and writing. I think that most of the time we go through life on autopilot… nothing special or different is happening and we go to bed and repeat the cycle. I like to capture the beauty in that rhythm instead of letting myself drown in the existential receptiveness.
Right now, I’m mainly focusing on bolstering my portfolio and preparing for my senior thesis gallery show happening in April! I’m trying to submit my animations, illustrations, and writing to as many festivals and competitions as I can in order to gain some exposure!
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
Dedication, joy, and curiosity. If I wasn’t as passionate and dedicated to developing a career in a creative field, I wouldn’t have ben exposed to so many talented people, different medias, and ideas. I am the person and the artist that I am today because I refused to give up on pursuing what truly makes me happy. That being said, joy is also so so important. I want to always find joy and solace in creating. This gets difficult in an academic setting when you feel forced to constantly churn out piece after piece for a grade rather than personal exploration. But even when I’m overloaded with deadlines, drawing or writing for myself always grounds me and reminds me why I started creating in the first place. I also think that staying open minded and curious is so important to personal and creative growth. I always asks what my peers are doing, what they’re learning, how they did this and that! I do the same thing with my professors too. I want to pull all the information I can out of people because I’ve found that I learn the most from asking questions to the people around me as opposed to reading a textbook. Developing and understanding all of these qualities take some with time, and even I am still learning how to fully put each of them in the practice. If I could give any form of advice in terms of developing these skills, I would say:
1) To not be to hard on yourself and just let yourself feel, good things come with time and creativity shouldn’t be forced.
2) Never stop consuming media. Even it is in forms that you don’t typically consume or engage with. You never know what might end up inspiring you and flipping a creative switch in your brain.
3) Collaborate! Talk with your peers and create with them. I’ve gained the most inspiration from watching my friends and professors work at their craft.
4) Draw every day (it doesn’t have to be good)!!
Is there a particular challenge you are currently facing?
Right now I feel that imposter syndrome is something that has been weighing on me. It’s really easy to compare yourself to everybody around you, especially when all my peers and people I surround myself with are all super talented. I’ve had to remind myself that everybody is on a different track, doing different things, and striving for different goals, and just because my work and my ideas don’t look exactly like somebody else’s, that doesn’t mean that I am any less valid or less cool. If I keep living with the mindset that any praise that I receive is out of pity, or that what I create isn’t as good or as revolutionary as the art that is being created around me, I will only be holding myself back. Of course, feeling confident in yourself is easier said than done, but I can already see some improvement which is so so sick.
Contact Info:
- Website: oliviacallenderart.com
- Instagram: 01ivi4i5c00l
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/olivia-callender-a6878926b/
