We recently connected with Maya Ragazzo and have shared our conversation below.
Maya, first a big thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts and insights with us today. I’m sure many of our readers will benefit from your wisdom, and one of the areas where we think your insight might be most helpful is related to imposter syndrome. Imposter syndrome is holding so many people back from reaching their true and highest potential and so we’d love to hear about your journey and how you overcame imposter syndrome.
I had a few years after college where I was really struggling with imposter syndrome. Everytime I got hired for a job, it felt slightly above my skillset. Accepting a job that challenges you is actually a great way to learn fast and build an impressive resume, but it does unfortunately come with imposter syndrome. I was running a graduate level prototyping lab in New York when I was just 23. I was teaching people how to build things who were older than me, which automatically made me feel like I knew less than them. There were times where I was so embarrassed that I didn’t know something, that anxiety would completely take over and I would get frazzled to the point of no return. I’ve also worked in many woodshops and male dominated fabrication labs, and I found that older men do try to test you in the beginning. I think it’s an old school way for you to prove your worth, but I was NOT a fan. Finding people to work with that provide a safe and nurturing environment will help you excel with ease. Over time, I learned that not feeling worthy are just bad days, and if you keep calm and just be honest about what you can and can’t do, as well as dedicating energy towards filling in the gaps of what you don’t know, eventually you will be confident in what you bring to the table. As someone now entering my 30s and have had many more jobs that challenged me, I’ve concluded that imposter syndrome really does go away with time. It helps if you stick with one industry or another, because then you are just building skills in a similar realm along the way. You can’t help being young and unexperienced, so it’s best to just show up and know that feeling like a fraud is just a feeling and it will pass. Sometimes it lasts longer than you want, but that’s life!
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
I make paintings, drawings, sculptures, and stop motion animations and have worked in niche fabrication jobs for my career. I have been a miniature model maker, CNC operator, manufacturing specialist, and a chandelier builder. Working in fabrication can be a very emotionless environment, because you have to be so focused on the technicality of the craft and what is in front of you. I like to take that energy and mix it with the very emotional influences that pertain to paintings and filmmaking. All that to say that my current work is all about world building, uniting industry with playful environments that hold space for odd relationships and interactions between characters. I play a lot with scale to encourage viewers to question their own scale in relation to the world around them, and what it means to be one of the bigger ‘predators’ on earth that run the show. I recently made a series of stop motion animations that was made for a release of an ambient album for the musician ‘Runnner’. I completely improvised the animation, using a sculpture I made that is primarily a 1:87 scale model world mixed with larger scale objects that create a surrealist atmosphere that sets the stage for a non-hierarchical system of scale with variety of creatures and interactions. Sometimes my work comes off as eerie, but I try to present a world that may seem dark and mysterious, but ultimately exists as a safe environment for magical things to happen. Whether it be a doll size figure planting urns in a mine that is inhabited by thumb size people, or a tiny telephone pole twirling next to a passing train, the videos come close to disastrous situations but end up in high spirited adventures. All of these videos can be seen on youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2MpwvLgvwE&t=916s&ab_channel=RunForCoverRecords
I am now working as a full time artist, taking on collaborative projects, as well as developing my studio practice and working on a new and upcoming series of work that will explore mood disorders as it relates to creativity.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
One odd skill that has helped me in my career is having a steady hand and insane attention to detail. I can sit and paint a details on a model that are the size of a pinhead, and I can do it for many hours. The trick to having a steady hand is sending the message from your brain to your hand that you can do it. That it is possible. That and putting in the practice.
Another thing that I take pride in is flexibility. Being able to work in many mediums means that I am flexible and can change gears when I need to and work on projects that other people may be afraid of. When I was working at Ravenhill Studio in Glassell park, a coworker and I hand painted a faux marble checkerboard floor. We wanted to perfectly match the existing marble tile that was in the building from the 1930s. It was an incredibly satisfying project and is something I’ve never done, but because of my flexibility and a little bit of research, it was a success! The project can be seen here: https://ravenhillstudio.com/pages/checkerboard-floor
Lastly, I try to have a very friendly and welcoming disposition that helps others feel comfortable to be themselves around me and feel good working with me. It has helped build relationships and a community of friends and artists that hopefully will last a lifetime. Showing empathy to your peers can be really impactful and I want people to know that they can tell me anything and it won’t phase me. I’ve been through some hardships in my life that allow me to be very understanding of people going through difficult situations. Practicing empathy is great, but never forget to take care of yourself first, and be wary of draining your emotional battery! Being good to yourself and others, and never giving up on your craft is the way to go!
Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?
I am currently looking for psychologists, art therapists, and psychotherapists to collaborate with. I want to combine my experiences with mental health issues with my art and create a historical and emotional record of people who have turned their mental challenges into their biggest area of growth. I want to create a show where people can come and leave with a knowledge of how to better treat people with mental health challenges and create creative outlets for those struggling to stay sane. I want to create paintings and videos that further explore the depths of our madness, including all of the beauty that comes with it. If you are someone who has knowledge of mental health cases throughout history and would want to help me build an educational narrative of how to better understand the positive effects that mental health challenges can have, please reach out to me via email me at [email protected]
Contact Info:
- Website: www.maya-ragazzo.com
- Instagram: mayaragazzo
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maya-ragazzo-ab4877167/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2MpwvLgvwE&t=916s&ab_channel=RunForCoverRecords
Image Credits
All photos are stills from the animations created by Maya Ragazzo
