We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Cynthia Graps a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Cynthia, 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.
Since I was a child I was attracted to art. I tried painting, but got frustrated when the paintbrush didn’t achieve to translate on the canvas what I pictured in my head. As a teenager, I felt better dancing and participating in musical theatre plays. When I finished High School I spent four months studying Art History and Photography in Florence, Italy. I was so excited and happy to see before my eyes everything that I’d seen before in the art books. I wanted to study art but didn’t dare to; in part because I didn’t trust my skills and also, I “should” study something to make money. So I did a bachelor in Communications, which was the closest thing to something creative. Finally, for my masters, I decided I would do what I really wanted to, so I went to Melbourne, Australia to study a Master of Art in Public Spaces. That was the beginning of my real art journey. The Masters was very open in terms of creation and technique. My research was about how we interact through touch in different cultures. I started experimenting with installations of things you could touch but not see, and see but not touch, which brought me naturally to one of my first performances, in which I asked people to paint on me, and observed their reactions and interactions.
At the same time, I was inspired by Alejandro Jodorowsky’s “psicomagia”, a technique to heal through symbolic actions. I created my first artistic ritual: “UnMarriage”, a performance to let go of past unresolved love stories. I thought the ritual for myself, but decided to open it for participation. To my surprise, everyone in the event had something to say, and were excited to participate. I realized that if I need it for myself, there are other people who need it too. That was the point where I truly found my purpose and passion: creating performance art that brings some kind of reflection or consciousness to the people who experience them.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
I am a performance artist from Mexico, with 15 years of experience. I have been lucky to show my work in Australia, Japan, New York and different cities in Mexico. My art aims to create a shared time/space with the audience, in which they can connect with themselves in a moment of reflection.
Issues related to women are highly relevant to my artistic practice. My actions also highlight gender stereotypes and sexist violence, helping to heal the historical wounds women still suffer.
I was a co-founder of the Colectivo Habitación Propia (2018), a group of six women with whom I has collaborated on numerous exhibitions, including my project Evocaciones, a series of tributes to female artists.
Recently I have experimenting with short videos, artist books, textile and cyanotype, with the objective of broadening my artistic practice.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
1. Forget about perfection.
I learned that the plan for a performance or artwork will never feel “perfect”, and if I wait until it does, it will probably never see the light. It is enough to feel that it’s “pretty much” ready to be presented, and know that, because of the nature of performance art, I will be able to improvise and adjust what I need during the presentation, depending on how the audience reacts. If it is a performance that I can present multiple times, I know it will get better each time.
2. Forget about comparison.
A bit cliché, but absolutely true. We must remember every person is walking our own path, with everything that it implies. We need to focus on our own development, on following our dreams and objectives step by step and celebrating every small or big achievement along the way.
I try to always be aware that what I do is worth doing, that it not only is its my passion, but that I’m always learning how to do it better.
3. Be patient and persistent.
For artists who are pursuing opportunities such as funding, scholarships, residencies or prizes in a highly competitive world, it is common to hear that we are tired of trying, that we’re not getting the results we deserve. Sometimes it doesn’t even have to do with the quality of our art, but with numbers or even luck. Patience and persistence are probably the most basic a skills that we need to live as artists.
To sum up, I think all of these have to do with breaking free of imposter syndrome, which is so common in women striving our best to be seen and make a living in the patriarchal society that we live in.
One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?
I love creating in collaboration and am always looking for opportunities to do so. I have worked with other artists doing performance, photography, writing and sound. The results have always been much better than if I had done it on my own.
I am always very interested and open to meeting all kinds of artists and create together! I’d be especially interested in multimedia artists, since it’s something I haven’t experimented with yet.
Please get in touch if you’d like to have a chat about a project together!
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cynthiagraps/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@cynthiagraps
- Other: https://linktr.ee/CynthiaGraps?utm_source=linktree_profile_share<sid=23e9bc08-ae70-4fe9-93ac-b0a3a21fab30
Image Credits
Lizette Abraham (studio photos)
Victor Sandoval (others)
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
