We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Kristine Schomaker a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Kristine , really happy you were able to join us today and we’re looking forward to sharing your story and insights with our readers. Let’s start with the heart of it all – purpose. How did you find your purpose?
I feel like the idea of having or finding a purpose in life is an ever changing, fluid thing. I was always the person who was depressed because I didn’t think I had a purpose. But what does that even mean. When you live in the moment, day to day and stop worrying about the future, your purpose becomes what you do in that day. In that minute. It could be paying for someone’s dinner or helping someone across the street, or supporting an artist with a show or social media. It may be talking about my eating disorder in order to help others (and myself). One definition of Purpose is, the reason for which something is done or created or for which something exists. I exist because I am here. I wasn’t born with a purpose that I know of. I was very lucky to have been born to parents and their parents who were entrepreneurs and generous souls. I learned by watching, then doing. My purpose is still to be defined on a day by day basis and It may change tomorrow if a good opportunity shows up that will sway me in a different direction. (After reading this, I didn’t mean for it to be this philosophical… LOL)
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 am very lucky to be living a fulfilling life doing what I love. I live at the Brewery Artist Complex in Los Angeles, I work with artists every day and I work on my own art most days. I was in the medical field for many years until I decided I had had enough and wanted to be happy doing what I love. I make my own hours, go to the beach when I want, get away to artist residencies, show my work in exhibitions and collaborate with artists. I support artists through shows in my project space and with my online art magazine Art and Cake. Life is pretty great. I would like another jeep where I can drive with the top off… but that is a goal for the future. I am a multi-hyphenate person and artist who can’t sit still and do one thing. I am a painter, performance artist, collaborator, conceptual artist, curator, organizer and more. I am a community builder and use my own art to bring people together. I draw attention and challenge every day notions of beauty. I put myself out there in order to show that it is ok to be yourself in a world that is trying to make you something else. My most recent project is called “Perceive Me.” In 2018 I invited 60 artists to paint, draw, sculpt, video take and photograph me nude. The idea is that often our (my) self worth comes from how we imagine others see us. I wanted to see myself through other artists eyes. The project culminated in an exhibition that traveled throughout Southern California during the pandemic and will be on view at The Other Art Fair in Santa Monica April 4-7th. In between the ‘downtime’ of this project, I also paint, cut up my paintings, paint again, cut them up and de(con)struct new work from what is cut up. This has been an ongoing practice for over 25 years and will probably continue on. The excitement of being an artist is that I don’t know what is around the corner. “Perceive Me” wasn’t even a blip on my radar until 2018.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
There are many more but 3 off the top of my head would be Patience, Kindness and Organization. I used to work in the medical field. I did billing, reception work, appointment scheduling, answering phones, filing and more. The administrative side of work gave me the knowledge and experience to be good at it in the art world. I am good with computers, social media, project management and more. I am both right and left brained which is a valuable attribute for an artist. I am also a natural leader. I was the president of the Art History Student Association and Painting Guild in Grad school. I was also the president of the CSUN Arts Alumni and the Brewery Artwalk Association. I taught art history at the community college level and started many artist support groups. I am good at bringing people together. I am also a good listener and also a patient follower which helps me gain the knowledge and experience I need to work with people. Research has also been a strong skill. Grad school helped with this. If there is something I don’t know, I search it out. Whether Google or Youtube, or asking my friends on social media. I can find one or multiple answers and learn from it for the future. It’s important in our fast paced, stimulated, impulsive world, to slow down, read, listen and follow directions. I feel like our society (myself included) is going too fast and not paying attention. Who reads anymore? Skimming has become a keyword in our vocabulary and then we lose important information.
Alright, so before we go we want to ask you to take a moment to reflect and share what you think you would do if you somehow knew you only had a decade of life left?
One of the biggest challenges I am facing is that I need to clone myself. I am trying to do everything and having a hard time saying no. I want to do everything. So I don’t want to say no. But I have to think of my health and what my body can take on and do. While I am focused on my art and supporting artists, the other part of my life is continuously concentrating on self care. I know if I can’t take care of myself then I can’t help others.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.kristineschomaker.net/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kristineschomaker/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kristineschomakerart
