We were lucky to catch up with Andrés Colón recently and have shared our conversation below.
Andrés, we are so happy that our community is going to have a chance to learn more about you, your story and hopefully even take in some of the lessons you’ve learned along the way. Let’s start with self-care – what do you do for self-care and has it had any impact on your effectiveness?
I think the true nature of self-care is the art of listening to oneself. Especially as a creative. When I become frustrated with my craft, or any aspect of life, I know that I really need to start listening. What is it that my body is trying to tell me? What about this task is so threatening to me? What need of mine isn’t being met? Self-care isn’t simply about relaxation or positive affirmations to me. I’ve found that if I step away from conflict without reconciling why I needed to step away in the first place, I remain stagnant. Instead, I try to be a person that I would trust my younger-self with. I listen. Self-care is about becoming my own companion. Learning to live as me, even the parts I’ve buried.
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
I consider myself many things, but I do not consider myself just an artist. I am a storyteller. I write, I paint, I design, I dream. I don’t apply a piece to a medium, rather, I apply a medium to a piece. I don’t ask “what should I paint” I ask “what medium does this idea need to justify it’s existence”. This can be anywhere from a simple, quickly scribbled sonnet or a week-long fully-fledged video collage. If an idea calls for a dark and moody tone, I create a piece with ink and charcoal. On the other hand, if an idea calls for a bright and eye-catching voice to it, then I use gouache or a computer to create a flashy graphic. Though these mediums may vary, I never choose to confine a piece to the medium I assign it. Many of my paintings are inspired by poems I’ve written. Many of my poems are inspired by paintings I’ve painted. I take it upon myself to give breath to whatever a story demands to be given. I do so in the sense that one may look upon a randomized collection of my work and wonder if all the pieces coexist in the same fictional universe, not solely by the style, but by the soul granted to each.
My most recent project, “The Matador’s Wife” is a chapbook of poetry + prose; a tameless narrative of perversion and preservation. The collection introduces the reader to a character known as the Matador’s Wife, as well as an introspective undertone that readers are sure to identify with. With undercurrents of what I call “quiet violence”, we follow the journey through the mind of the Matador’s Wife as she explores femininity, domestic turbulence, past and present traumas, and a desperate search of self. “The Matador’s Wife” charges full throttle with desire and anger, both of which burn true and good. Because sometimes anger is the thing that kills. Sometimes it is the thing that saves. The collection is available in both eBook and paperback.
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?
Patience, planning, and spontaneity have all been crucial to my creative journey. Though the latter two may seem to contradict each other, I’ve found that the perfect combo for creativity is a goal-oriented approach with just enough room for opportunity to disrupt your planning. Be aspirational but also embrace your own obliviousness, because there is still so much to know and be known. So, take advantage of the learning process and do not let perfectionism blind you into avoiding risks. And do not be afraid of your art turning out different than anticipated. Instead, look for what the art is trying to show you–angles you might have missed, themes you might have never seen.
All the wisdom you’ve shared today is sincerely appreciated. Before we go, can you tell us about the main challenge you are currently facing?
The current project I’m working on, while fictional, is one of the most vulnerable pieces I’ve ever written. One of the current challenges I’m facing with this new writing process is that a lot of the issues the characters are facing, a lot of the questions they stay awake trying to answer, I still haven’t answered for myself. So, in a way, this novel has become a bit of a mirror for me as it reflects all of which I have yet to figure out within my interpersonal life, which has made writing it quite an emotional and disturbing process. I never thought that in putting together a novel, I would be putting myself together as well. But what I’ve realized is that, like any sort of writer’s “block”, when you feel stuck within your own work, sometimes you need to step out of that world and back into your own. So, that’s what I’ve been doing. I’ve been attempting to live some more, to take in more of life and its inspirations, and do it in a way that will give me more insight into the journeys that my own characters find themselves on.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://acrobat.adobe.com/link/review?uri=urn:aaid:scds:US:f44b4e74-9b0f-3371-9c14-eaf08a44e630
- Instagram: @a_ndres.c
Image Credits
All photos shot and directed by Andrés Colón. All art designed and illustrated by Andrés Colón.
