We were lucky to catch up with Cerissa Lopez recently and have shared our conversation below.
Cerissa, so great to be with you and I think a lot of folks are going to benefit from hearing your story and lessons and wisdom. Imposter Syndrome is something that we know how words to describe, but it’s something that has held people back forever and so we’re really interested to hear about your story and how you overcame imposter syndrome.
To be completely honest – I still find myself navigating through this quite often, so to say that I 100% overcame imposter syndrome would be a lie. In a way, I almost don’t want to lose sight of this ideology because it keeps me humble and grounded, however, when I feel empty as a creative or in a depressed state of mind, the help of a support system always is a reminder of what I have accomplished in my career. What really helps me though when I am unable to rely on a support system is simply going through my old sketchbooks and portfolio and simply seeing that visual reminder of all the works of art I’ve created during my career as well as taking note on how far I progressed in such a short time.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
Cerissa Lopez is a Las Vegas-born and raised, multi-dimensional and bi-racial artist with extensive work in traditional painting/illustration, large scale murals, graphic design and photography. She grew up in a very artistic household, with both parents who were artists, hence, has delved into studying various artforms from a very young age. As long as she can remember, she’s had an affinity for science fiction, cyberpunk, nature, classical art and surrealism, hence a recurring inspiration for her work.
She has had over 12 years experience traditional painting, illustrating and graphic designing professionally, serving as in-house graphic designer in the music and festival industry and over 4 years experience as a large scale muralist for several notable clients such as WNBA, Under Armour, Coca Cola, 7 Eleven, Area 15, Uncommons, Life is Beautiful, Clark County School District, Terrible Herbst, Behr Paint, Nascar, FedEx, High Times Magazine and Dolls Kill to name a few.
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?
I always refer to Roman philosophy when it comes to how I go about problem solving whether it be in my everyday life or creatively. Three qualities that truly helped me navigate this road as a creative would be temperance, humility and courage. Temperance in regards towards self-control, knowing my own limitations as an artist. Always practicing humility and not allowing my status as an artist cloud the full perspective of my goals. Most importantly courage, especially being a female in a male-dominated industry and having the drive and impeccable will to push forward past boundaries.
What is the number one obstacle or challenge you are currently facing and what are you doing to try to resolve or overcome this challenge?
Finding the bandwidth everyday to set aside more time to create art just for personal use. Juggling multiple freelance gigs on top of a part-time design job, I find it hard to dig up creative energy on down time to focus on my own work and am making it a personal goal of mine this year to prioritize that.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.cerissalopez.com
- Instagram: @c_lopez_design
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