We recently connected with MUKA and have shared our conversation below.
Hi MUKA, we’re so appreciative of you taking the time to share your nuggets of wisdom with our community. One of the topics we think is most important for folks looking to level up their lives is building up their self-confidence and self-esteem. Can you share how you developed your confidence?
It’s taken me a long time to get to the level of confidence I have now and although I still struggle at times, I feel very at peace with who I am as a person and an artist. It all started with reaching such a low point in my life that I was forced to work on myself. I started going to therapy and realized that a lot of my self doubts came from traumas in my past that ultimately had me seeking validation from everyone but myself. I’d go through these periods of highs when people would validate me or my work and then when things slowed down, my brain was telling me that I was nothing and my art, my career, my life, etc, were pointless. Once I really accepted that my confidence was rooted in other peoples perceptions of me I was able to really tear that down, piece by piece, and start building my own perspective of myself. My confidence grew and became more stable.
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 a visual artist, juror and curator in Los Angeles, California. Most of my work is built around the idea of what my inner child would want the world to know. I feel like as adults, we are so consumed, an often bullied, by society that we quiet our voice and lose ourselves. The “inner child” has always been interesting to me because I feel like that’s where our most authentic selves lie, where we feel excitement, joy, where we feel vulnerable and passionate. I started creating work with this idea in mind after going through my lowest point in life and really trying to reset my perception of life. I wanted to understand why I felt so shutdown and ultimately realized that I had allowed all of my trauma sort of paint me into the dark little lonely corner. This is why my work is bright, fun and colorful. I want people to see it and feel their most vulnerable self invited to come out and play. I do have a running theme of a teddy bear in most of my work because my win teddy bear got me through my worst days and I wanted to share that part of joy from my own life. I am currently working on a new series of work titled “TEDDYs FRIENDz” that will feature more characters with their own relatable story lines. I want this new body of work to remind people that no matter what they are facing, they’re not alone in this world.
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?
First I would say that you have to be social. The art world is all about networking and meeting those curators, gallery owners, collectors, writers, etc that will help you advance your career. Although I am pretty introverted, I do look back and see how showing up and talking to people has helped me be where I am today and in turn has enabled me to help other artists find their path as well! So make other artist friends and go be social!
Second, I would say that you need to be authentic and genuine with your art. When creating your work, it needs to speak to your mission as an artist. That’s the only way your work will carry your signature without actually having your name on it. I’ve noticed that when I create work based on what I think other people will like, it fails. However, when I truly just lock myself away and create from my heart, from my mind, with my own plan and zero regard for if the world will accept it or not, that’s where the magic happens. That’s also where your confidence grows.
Lastly, I would advise anyone who is early on this journey to not scroll social media! You’ll more than likely start comparing yourself and your work or success to others and that’s not going to do anything for you but push you back. One artists success doesn’t mean your own failure and vice versa! Playing back into my second point up above, it can also make you stray into creating work that isn’t authentic to your artistic vision. So, as your big sister artist, social media can be a great tool to network and promote your work but please, skip the scrolling and go sketch something instead!
Before we go, any advice you can share with people who are feeling overwhelmed?
When I feel overwhelmed I step away from what I’m working on, or not working on if I’m in a quiet creative season, and honor my inner child. After all, she s who helped me create this wonderful career and mission for my artwork! I sit and I ask myself “what is something I can do to make her happy today?” Sometimes it’s going on a lunch date and sometimes it’s just drinking a huge glass of water while I sit and think about nothing. Anything to spark a little joy and peace. Often, when we get overwhelmed it’s because we’re neglecting a part of ourselves. From my experience, my best work was created when I felt balanced, not always happy, but always balanced.
Contact Info:
- Website: Www.artbymuka.com
- Instagram: Artbymuka
- Facebook: Artbymuka
