Meet Erika Anat Fritz

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Erika Anat Fritz a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Erika Anat , thank you so much for opening up with us about some important, but sometimes personal topics. One that really matters to us is overcoming Imposter Syndrome because we’ve seen how so many people are held back in life because of this and so we’d really appreciate hearing about how you overcame Imposter Syndrome.

That’s a very special question and I love the depth of it right away! I grew up in Germany in a fairly poor household of immigrants from Romania. My father wanted something bigger and better for us children and tried to get us to study something academic, but I was never an analytical person. All I had in my head was to create. That is the red thread that manifests through my whole life. All the different projects and things I have done, have that one thing in common: They flow out of my creative brain. I am a natural, meaning, I never studied art or design; and because it was always so easily accessible for me to fill a blank page with literally anything I found it hard to believe when people attested to my talent. I never understood that that is the very thing that classifies talent; and not the school or education you acquired during your career.
I inherently believed that when it comes so easy to me it can not be of any value. So I meandered through life thinking that everyone could create like I do – effortlessly. And that they just have to “let it flow” or imagine it. Deep down I was absolutely convinced that I am an imposter. One day I was speaking with a friend and she reassured me like so often how talented and brilliant I am and like usually I would reject that compliment. She continued: Just because it is so easy for you to create out of nothing doesn’t mean that it is not worth anything. Just because it comes easy to you does not mean that it comes easy for everyone. Understand this! That is when I finally did and at that same moment overcame my imposter syndrome.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?

Professionally I always wanted to position myself far away from the descriptor “artist” even though it was clear – at least to my environment, as I just spoke about the fact that I secretly felt I was an imposter – that I am an artist in the very classical sense. I was finally able to embrace that as I started to create big sculptures a few years ago. All my output until that point was of functional nature. I prided myself in the concept that whatever I do, it comes with a clear function and necessity by nature. Those big sculptures clearly did not fulfill any function nor necessity. They just started as a thought in my head, an inner vision, and kept pressing outside. In other words, they just needed to be birthed into our palpable reality. So today I am grateful that I was able to take that turn and acknowledge and embrace that artist part of me, who just creates out of pure joy and pleasure and awe about the process of materializing that inner vision into the world. Along the way I invented a material which I call “HardSilk”. It is a resin compound, which lets me create my signature lightweight, kaleidoscopic colorful sculptures and structures. The most recent creation are my partition screens, where I am going back to ‘functionality meets the art’. A great opportunity for residential and commercial projects to include art into their properties.
Check out my website to see more : www.anatfritz.miami

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?

Good question! I think what helped me create this colorful, diverse and versatile professional life was my naivety. It can be a road block to some, but for me it was always a helpful attitude towards life. It helped me to innocently “just doing it”. Something catches my inner eye and I think: “Wait, I can do this my way.” Would I have been more knowledgable, I think that could have just made me not do it in the first place.
Another quality I appreciate is “imagination”. I have always had a very vivid phantasy world. Even though I do think that you either are born with it or not, I do believe that one can learn to strengthen their imagination with practice. Just by exercising it. I never read magazines nor do I watch movies, just so that my imagination can stay pure and I can rely on something I come up with to be genuinely from my inner source. The less you turn to your outside world for imagination, the more you just regurgitate what others have already done. And you are missing out on hearing your own voice, because the outside one is so loud.

Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?

Of course! I would ALWAYS prefer the opportunity of collaborating with brilliant minds and projects vs. doing my own thing. I would love to work in a space where there are lots of creative heads stuck together! I love to create for others in form of commission works, as well as with others in creative projects where everyone contributes their expertise and point of view. At the moment I am collaborating with an amazing interior designer in Miami. I love to create for her! The best feeling, she gives me colors and general shape requests, and I create the object for her showroom. Super inspiring! Please feel encouraged to reach out to me if you feel inspired: [email protected] or through instagram: @anatfritz.artstudio !

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.anatfritz.miami
• Instagram: anatfritz.artstudio
• Other: [email protected]

Image Credits

Martin Levy