We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Anahi Ibarra a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Anahi, we’re thrilled to have you on our platform and we think there is so much folks can learn from you and your story. Something that matters deeply to us is living a life and leading a career filled with purpose and so let’s start by chatting about how you found your purpose.
Honestly, it took a lot of self reflection and awareness to truly live in my purpose. In my experience, I believe my purpose always existed within me, it was not something I found externally. I continuously asked myself what it was that brought me joy, made me feel fulfilled and created the impact I wanted to have. From a young age I knew that I enjoyed being creative; I loved writing poetry, performing, drawing, painting… just creating. These things gave me an opportunity to express my inner self and by doing that it allowed me to connect and build community with the people around me, I knew what art did for me but I also witnessed what sharing that gift meant for others and THAT in and of itself is a blessing to experience. For me, being creative was not about understanding, it was about innerstanding. When I would create, it was solely about expressing from the heart. Eventually, that made me realize that my purpose was simply to ‘be me,’ because I am powerful and impactful by just existing and sharing my authenticity & vulnerability with others.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
Of course! I am an artist, poet and educator from South Central, Los Angeles! My art journey began mostly with commissioned custom pieces on canvas, Hydroflasks, grad caps and now shoes. I’m expanding my portfolio to include more personal work that reflects my inner thoughts, feelings, stories and perspectives. In both my art & poetry, I aim to share my personal narratives with others to demonstrate the power of vulnerability and the beauty that comes from being able to relate and see each other in our truths. Additionally, I aim to share my perspectives on social issues and themes to provoke thoughts and challenge dominant narratives. Currently, I am expanding my skills and expertise and will be finishing my first mural this year.
I am also an educator in Watts where I have the privilege of inspiring and being inspired by the youth that I work with. Everyday I am planting my seeds and finding ways to cultivate the talent and intelligence these babies have!
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
This is a great question! The most impactful things in my journey had a lot to do with my mindset and approach. To be honest, in my earlier days I never really considered myself an artist because I did it as a “side thing” and never took it serious. There was actually a lot of people who believed in me and saw my gift even before I saw it in myself. In reality, I didn’t believe I was deserving of pursuing something like art so I would act as if I didn’t care. It wasn’t until a mentor of mine told me, “You deserve to dream big, Anahi,” that I really started investing in my passion. So, that’s the first piece of advice I would give- knowing you deserve to dream and believe in yourself.
The second most impactful conversation was when I had the honor of meeting @officialfeature in an Uber ride. I told him about how I wanted to get more serious about art and he asked me, “what do you want to portray in your art?” And I said, “South Central,” and he replied, “so PAINT THAT. Paint South Central. Let us in your world and your point of view.” Since then I have been more inspired to create the things I want to create and not just commissioned pieces. He made me realize I have a bigger story to tell… so with that in mind the next piece of advice I can give is to trust your vision and stay true to it. As a creative, it’s easy to get caught in the circle of thinking about what other people might want to see or hear (if you make music). Know and trust that you deserve to share your own vision and that is always enough.
Thanks so much for sharing all these insights with us today. Before we go, is there a book that’s played in important role in your development?
How to Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kleon has been a game changer for me. It’s a simple yet impactful read that changed the way I approached the process of creating art. This book helped me to find inspiration and see art everywhere I go! I am always taking pictures of random things because I find something in them that I can use in my paintings later. I highly recommend!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://powerpoetry.org/poet/Lizbeth%20Anahi%20Ibarra/poems
- Instagram: @ibarraaanahi
- Facebook: Lizbeth Anahi Ibarra
- Linkedin: Lizbeth Anahi Ibarra
