We recently connected with Ella Peterson and have shared our conversation below.
Ella, so excited to have you with us today. So much we can chat about, but one of the questions we are most interested in is how you have managed to keep your creativity alive.
Creativity is so nonlinear, I have gone months without any creative direction. The best way for me to keep the juices flowing is to do a tightrope walk of being constantly bombarded by content while remaining intentional and thoughtful about what I have seen or heard. As an example, I will always try to read a book every month about something completely different, normally something nonfiction. Listening to new music always gets me excited and I challenge myself to imagine some visuals I would make for the chorus. Also, I always keep a tiny journal next to my bed to write down the nonsensical ideas I have while trying to fall asleep. Revisiting ideas from a couple of years ago can sometimes feel like a chore, but I often find that to be an interesting practice to see if I would approach a piece differently now.
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 grew up in Salt Lake City, Utah and went to sewing class every week for five years. It was my first time feeling creative and excited about making something. As the years went by, I started to feel the distance growing between with the local sewing teacher. We had different views which I always knew but when her views began to conflict with the apparel I wanted to be creating, I knew it was time to leave. I didn’t sew again for six years and never took an art class in middle or high school. By the time I started undergrad at Brown University, I was laser-focused on astrophysics and philosophy. It wasn’t until I took an intro art class my sophomore year that I became interested in art again. I had this preconceived notion that in order to consider yourself an artist you had to be inherently gifted in technical skills such as drawing, painting, music, etc. It wasn’t until I took this class that I was introduced to conceptual art. I knew I wanted to revisit my experience with apparel and bring it into a conceptual space. I finally considered myself an artist and decided to dive in. I switched my major to computer science and visual art.
From graphic design, to audio/video, to painting to film photography, I wanted to explore all of the options for my conceptual practice. I finally landed on apparel and 3D animation. My solo art exhibition, “Bluff”, consisted of six apparel sculptures contemplating and undermining societal norms around clothing, age, and class. I mixed familiar clothing forms – a pajama set, graduation gown, coveralls – with nontraditional fabric choices and adornments – clear vinyl, Terry cloth towels, native Utah seeds. I suspended the pieces from the ceiling with fishing line to form ghostly bodily forms, allowing the viewer to peek inside of the pieces and view the lining. Afterward, I recreated the apparel pieces in 3D animation using Maya and Marvelous Designer. I simulated the clothing with walking invisible figures so that the pieces could live on digitally after the show was disassembled.
Upon graduation, I continued with 3D clothing simulation and animation. I currently am working for a VR company where I create 3D assets, videos, water and clothing simulations, and more. I also have my own practice outside of work where I continue to explore 3D clothing simulation and connect with musicians to create visuals for their songs.
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?
The three most impactful qualities I have picked up along my journey would be 1) not being afraid to be multidisciplinary 2) reaching out to other artists to collaborate 3) nurturing a creative idea without knowing how to execute it. When I started my art practice, I felt very alone in the process. I would ask my artist friends for critique but it felt like everything I created was so personal and intermingled with my identity. Now, I love to connect with other artists to collaborate, I think it helps me get out of my own head when I can bounce ideas off of someone and try their process. I also was afraid to mix mediums and/or try something new. I felt that I should know exactly how I would create a piece before I started it, otherwise I would let the idea peter out. Now, I continue pushing an idea conceptually for weeks or months before I begin to think about how I would execute it and I value learning different mediums and skills along the way.
What has been your biggest area of growth or improvement in the past 12 months?
Well, 12 months ago I was starting my final semester at Brown University. I created an independent study in 3D clothing simulation and put a lot of pressure on myself to complete 4 animated apparel pieces from RuPaul Drag Race. I was a bit of a stress case, I was teaching myself two new ways to simulate clothing (through Marvelous Designer and Maya nCloth) while simultaneously wanting to make portfolio-ready pieces displaying my mastery of the skills I was still learning. Fast-forward to now, I think my biggest area of growth has been in patience and idea-nurturing. I chew on an idea for awhile and try to give myself time to learn a new skill before applying it to a finished art piece. Before, I was extremely headstrong in an idea and how I envisioned I would produce it. I was afraid if I didn’t act immediately, while the idea was still fresh, I would lose steam and never touch it again. But over time I have noticed that being so set in my ways can end up hindering the creative process. Sometimes a certain idea just isn’t panning out the way I would like it to and instead of forcing a solution I have learned to step back and revisit a project later on with a fresh set of eyes.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.ellaipeterson.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ellaipeterson/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ella-peterson-4993b1190/
