We recently connected with Monica Marks and have shared our conversation below.
Monica, we’re so excited for our community to get to know you and learn from your journey and the wisdom you’ve acquired over time. Let’s kick things off with a discussion on self-confidence and self-esteem. How did you develop yours?
It has been a life-long process. I have always felt “.different” from my peers. I didn’t always get the social rules that everyone else seemed to understand. I’ve also been over the weight of my peers all my life; I was teased mercilessly by the other children and body-shamed by medical professionals and strangers on the street. I grew up feeling like both my body and my mind didn’t match up with societal norms. I always felt “less than.” I focused only on what I wasn’t, not what I was. I focused on my deficits, I compared myself to everyone else and always came up short. The negative self-talk in my head was cruel; I called myself an idiot, a loser, a fat worthless waste of skin. I hated myself. I learned to mask and I tried to be what others were to fit in. It was exhausting and came with a high price of dampening my confidence and self-esteem even further..
Two things changed in my life that really helped me: Working with a great therapist, and working with a great art mentor to further my art career (that I had put on hold). Through a lot of hard work in both these areas, I began accepting the parts of myself that I felt were unacceptable, and even began loving my body, my brain, and my art. I began to embrace and celebrate the parts of myself that were different than the average person. I no longer cared as much about fitting in, and even dyed my hair blue to stand out even more. I’m throwing myself full force into art because it is my passion. I like taking risks and learning new things, and I make mistakes but they aren’t the end of the world and, in fact, sometimes the most interesting things come out of mistakes! It’s not easy, and it’s not “one and done,” it’s a continual process of reminding myself of who I am and that I am “worth-full.”
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I am an artist, and I’m at the point in my life where I can dedicate my life to this passion. I worked many years in the mental health field (as a therapist and an art therapist), and these experiences inform my art process. My goal is to shine a light on what we feel we need to keep hidden and to represent imagery that help others feel seen and heard. There are so many stigmas I want to eliminate to no one has to hide who they really are. I do this in a variety of media and modalities, such as sculpture, found object work, collage, writing, painting and other mixed media combinations.
I’m very excited about a solo show that is up currently at Shoebox Projects. “Inside Voices,” curated by Kristine Schomaker, is about the negative self-talk we all have at some point in our lives, the transformative nature of positive self-talk, and the release and freedom of allowing ourself to be loud and take up space. The link to the show is https://shoeboxprojects.com/monica-marks-inside-voices-at-shoebox-projects-at-the-brewery/
email shoeboxartsla@gmail.com
I’m very proud of this exhibition and it represents years of work but internally and artistically.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
1. Know yourself and stay true to that knowledge. No one knows you like you, and if something feels right, or doesn’t feel right, trust your instincts. If an opportunity arises, and it feels right but you are afraid, do it anyway. Again, however, if something doesn’t feel right or doesn’t align with your morals, something that feels uncomfortable in the pit of your stomach, it’s okay to say no! Only you know when to say yes or no.
2. Play and make mistakes. You shouldn’t focus ONLY on the end product all the time. It’s important to do things for process, without an end goal in mind. For example, if you go for a walk, wander a bit and be in the moment – I know it’s incredibly cliche to say it’s about the journey and not the destination, but it’s true! Stop and look around, use all your senses, have some fun! Be creative without a deadline. Trust me, all those deadlines will be there when you get back to them, but now you might have more ideas on how to reach them!
3. Have compassion for yourself and others, in all things, always.
Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?
I love collaboration and I haven’t had enough opportunities to participate in collaborative projects. I am interested in projects big and small; installations, curation, creation, etc. I tend to lean towards projects that align with my goal of ending stigmas and supporting marginalized communities. If you have an idea for collaboration feel free to reach me at monica@monicamarksart.com.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.monicamarksart.com
- Instagram: @monicamarksart
- Facebook: Monicamarksart
- Other: email: monica@monicamarksart.com
Image Credits
Headshot: Amanda Marks
