Meet Cyd Muri

We were lucky to catch up with Cyd Muri recently and have shared our conversation below.

Cyd, 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.

Visual language has always been essential to my way of life. As a child, even before grade school and long before I learned to write, I had a severe speech impediment. Often, no one—including my own mother—could understand what I was trying to communicate. So, I turned to drawing. Through drawing, I expressed what I wanted, what I needed, and how I felt. Art allowed me to bridge the gap where words had failed me. Even now, after years of speech therapy have enabled me to communicate effectively with words, I continue to rely on art as a means of expressing my internal dialogue and emotions. My purpose as an artist revealed itself to me during a time when I felt completely misunderstood. Over the years, I’ve grown alongside my art, eventually reaching a point where traditional drawing could no longer fully convey what I wanted to express. This realization drew me to sculpture—a medium that allows me to manifest my emotions conceptually within the physical realm. I wanted my art to exist in the same plane of being as I do.

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 currently work in the Exhibitions Department at the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA), where I handle artwork and repair the gallery spaces and pedestals. I love working directly with art and take pride in providing fellow artists with a well-maintained space that highlights their hard work and creativity. The wide range of works that pass through the galleries continually inspires me to experiment and explore new approaches to making and thinking.
In addition to my work in the Exhibitions Department, I am also a senior nearing the end of my college career. I am passionate about sharing my work with the public and recently exhibited in a group metal-working show titled “Talismans” at Gallery 410 in Baltimore. The exhibition, which ran from November to December, was an incredible experience and a valuable opportunity to connect with fellow artists. Currently, I am actively seeking internships and would love the chance to work with a full-time studio artist to gain hands-on experience and learn what it takes to build a successful artistic career.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

Experimentation. Feedback from peers. Allowing your work to speak for itself.

These three principles guide me every time I create a new piece. Experimentation is essential to learning and growth; failure is simply part of the process. That’s the point—pushing the boundaries of art and discovering new possibilities. There are no strict rules in art: a drawing can become a sculpture, and a sculpture can transform into a painting. Imposed conventions shouldn’t limit creativity; you’ll never know the potential of an idea or material until you try.

Feedback is another key part of my process. When I’m struggling with a detail or an element of a piece, I always seek input from friends or fellow artists. I value second and third opinions to ensure my intentions for the work come through as I hope. Having close connections with others—where you can collectively share and discuss your work—is invaluable. It provides time to reflect on why you’re creating in the first place and encourages mutual growth.

Allowing my work to speak for itself is a skill I’ve developed over time. I’ve learned that I can’t always stand beside my artwork to explain it. Even during critiques, I prefer to remain silent so I can hear how others interpret and react to my work without my words influencing them. Over-explaining artwork, I’ve found, can diminish the rewarding experience for viewers, who should have the freedom to discover its details and meanings on their own.

Looking back over the past 12 months or so, what do you think has been your biggest area of improvement or growth?

Over the past 12 months, I feel I’ve grown tremendously in both my technical skills and my creative thinking process. My abilities in metalworking have now reached a point where I feel confident commanding the metal to take the forms I envision, shaping it with my own distinct style. This is a significant shift from when I first began learning three years ago, when it often felt like the steel was dictating the limits of what I could create. At times, this made me lose confidence, but I kept pushing forward, never giving up. My creative thinking has also evolved dramatically. I’ve moved from struggling with literal representations to allowing my work to freely exist with conceptual moments that resonate on a more personal level—moments that the literal representation could never fully convey. My artistic journey has grown—and will continue to grow—each day, alongside my personal development as an individual.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tainted.hands