We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Kadie DiCarlo a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Kadie, first a big thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts and insights with us today. I’m sure many of our readers will benefit from your wisdom, and one of the areas where we think your insight might be most helpful is related to imposter syndrome. Imposter syndrome is holding so many people back from reaching their true and highest potential and so we’d love to hear about your journey and how you overcame imposter syndrome.
Overcoming imposter syndrome is a skill that I have to continue practice daily. I’ve realized that regardless of how I perceive myself, there’s concrete evidence that I’m putting visual art and music into the world- therefore I’m not an imposter! I have to remind myself of this- that I’m not making creating just for other people. My reason ‘why’ must always be to create simply for the sake of creating something that is interesting or meaningful to me.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
As a multi-media artist, I paint, sculpt, write songs with my band, weave baskets- I often have many projects going on at once. This year I was selected amongst 10 other recipients in Long Beach to be a Professional Artist Fellow. With the grant money from this award, I have a large sustainable art project that I’ll be working on this year. Thanks to a ton of fellow community members donating their discarded electric wires and cords, I’ll be crafting large-scale sculptures to recreate 3D versions of my paintings. I’ve begun weaving the wires and painting them to create large colorful knots that exemplify man-made nerves created by human nerves. I’m excited to be using materials that would otherwise be filling a landfill; contributing to our crisis of a polluted earth.
Alongside my visual art practice, I collaborate with 3 other musicians here in Long Beach, CA. Our band is called Jagged Jein and we’ve been around for over 5 years as a 4 piece group! We’ve had revolving members in the band, but this has only added to variation in our songwriting and recording. Fusing all kinds of rock and roll, we’re always hesitant to put a genre label on our music. We’re inspired by psychedelic rock, metal, singer-songwriter, funk, jazz and experimental rock.
Feel free to listen to us on all platforms! We have 1 full-length album out, 1 EP, and 1 single that was released last August.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Hmm, three qualities that were most impactful in my journey… I supposed hindsight is 20/20 so although I didn’t know I had these skills in the present-time, looking back I can see how useful they were.
1) Fearlessness in Community Organizing: Ever since high school, I’ve always thought big. I haven’t been afraid to throw a backyard concert or a garage open-mic. Today I organize shows to support the community or protest Zionism as we watch a genocide happen before our eyes. Not being afraid to ask venues to host your artwork, music or your big idea is paramount in getting visibility of your work by your community.
2) Be Resourceful: I’ve been told by a therapist that my spirit animal is a raccoon. Raccoons are masters at scavenging and finding the best resources to survive and thrive in an urban landscape. I resonate with this raccoon-like hunger to find the best opportunities that exist. I scour craigslist, Facebook marketplace, Offer Up and word of mouth to find discounted art materials, job opportunities and music gigs. Staying connected but not addicted to technology is the challenge. There’s an endless amount of opportunities out there, you just have to know where to look!
3) Stick to your Style: It took me a second to find my voice with my visual art. I was fortunate enough to go to college and study art. Brutal art school critiques really helped me zoom in on why I’m making art and what it is I’m making. Remembering that it doesn’t matter what other people think of your art- if it’s surprising and interesting to yourself, chances are that someone else will be able to resonate with it.
As we end our chat, is there a book you can leave people with that’s been meaningful to you and your development?
One book that has really impacted my work is ‘Codex Seraphinianus’ by artist, architect and designer, Luigi Serafini. He published this book in 1981 as an encyclopedia written entirely in a language that doesn’t exist. Alongside his cryptic words are beautiful illustrations of abstract scenarios to mimic the sensation one gets when you’re a child reading an encylopedia of a world you’ve yet to experience.
The reason this book is so impactful for me is because it shows how important individuality is when putting something out in the world. Luigi could have hesitated in creating a book that was so unique- would he have been more successful if he published a more palatable book? Perhaps one written in a language that others could understand?
The fact that he created something entirely abstract shows me that as an artist, one should never bend to appease the popular audience. What resulted in his decisions to produce something novel was a perfect masterpiece; a treasure to be found amongst a sea of texts that cater to the spoon-fed.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://kadiedicarlo.com
- Instagram: @kadiedicarlo
- Linkedin: Kadie DiCarlo
- Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/2QxmLIdTJozt2LH7YiflXw?si=3kMp7KzBRCqnzfK9juFkLA
Image Credits
Photos of Artwork by Gene Ogami
Photo of Artist by Ben Kadie
Show Flyer Designed by Kadie DiCarlo
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
