We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Ryan Jane Murphy a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Ryan Jane, sincerely appreciate your selflessness in agreeing to discuss your mental health journey and how you overcame and persisted despite the challenges. Please share with our readers how you overcame. For readers, please note this is not medical advice, we are not doctors, you should always consult professionals for advice and that this is merely one person sharing their story and experience.
Artistic expression has without a doubt been the most valuable & healthiest coping mechanism utilized throughout my mental health journey. For as long as I can remember, I’ve struggled with body dysmorphia, depression, anxiety, dissociation and eventually PTSD. The mediums that have helped me the most is portraiture and illustration work. When I am at one of my lowest points and struggling with communication, it often draws back to lack of recent artistic release.
There is a certain, irreplaceable magic that happens when you see a photo of yourself that actually feels like the positive version of yourself; I strive to recreate this feeling for anyone who works with me photographically. Self-Portraiture significantly helps me reconnect with my physical form when I am struggling to feel in touch with my true self. Everyone deserves to feel safe & comfortable within themselves; I have found within my many amazing client opportunities that photography can help quite a few people reach this state.
Illustration work is also an extremely important medium used throughout my mental health journey. This helps to release pent-up emotions through visual language in a different way, but nonetheless still effective. My illustration subject matter usually consists of ‘creepy’ girls characters, automatic writing methods, newspaper clippings and macabre imagery to help convert the abstract thoughts within my head onto a canvas.
Art is such a beautiful and healthy release for intense emotions. The overall subject with its vast number of mediums caters to everyone in such different ways to create unique, meaningful pieces every time.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I am currently going through massive and exciting changes towards my artistic branding. Although I enjoy working in multiple medias and with all kinds of subject matter, a lot of my focus is being directed towards my horror-based photography work. The horror genre is something I have come to greatly admire due to it’s lack of societal restraints and the way it becomes a driving force of intriguing conversations. I have an extreme passion for strong visual storytelling and believe that there are so many eccentric stories waiting to be told through a macabre lens.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Three skills that have been extremely important within my artistic journey are adaptability, experimentation and learning to take constructive criticism.
The ability to adjust creative endeavors according to current circumstances rather than the initial plan is crucial. Although having a perfect photo day is always an ideal, there should be a bit of acceptance that something, or even things, may not go according to plan. Rather than scraping the entire idea, try making the issue work for you. Maybe even consider that your inner critic may be being a bit too loud…it happens to the best of us! Especially if the images may not be coming out exactly as you pictured within the planning stages. Even if you leave with work you aren’t feeling one-hundred percent about, reflect on what could be done differently and apply those thoughts to the next session!
Experimentation has directly lead to artistic methods I now commonly use within my practices. “Playing” with mediums is an important way of learning what works for you and what doesn’t. Taking the time to create work without the pressure of it being meant as portfolio work sometimes has the best results. Remembering that there are multiple ways to accomplish a task and finding the ones that work in your favor make all the difference.
Taking constructive criticism can be a hard skill to learn, especially for those who are not used to sharing their pieces. It took me quite a while to begin sharing my artwork with people and even longer to ask their honest opinions. Separating my personal opinions from my art and picking out the viewer comments that could actually benefit the piece has made quite the positive impact. I feel as if I produce better work when I get honest feedback and it is rewarding to see the benefits of audience participation.
Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?
Collaborations are some of my favorite pieces to produce! I am always looking to do portraiture, product and still-life work with those who are interested in the eerie aesthetic. I absolutely adore coming together with like-minded individuals to create fantastic work that would not have been possible just on our lonesomes. Creative, slightly spooky and witty personalities of all different walks of life with good intentions tend to be my general clientele and I could not be any happier!!
Contact Info:
- Website: ryanjanemedia.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ryanjanemedia/
- Other: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@theblairbitchpr0ject
Image Credits
All Photographs by Ryan Jane Murphy Sew Sweet Model: Shy Vance, Demigoddess Tattoos
