Meet jeffrey newman (a.k.a. NuISMS)

We were lucky to catch up with Jeffrey Newman (a.k.a. NuISMS) recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Jeffrey, 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.
I’m not sure we ever overcome imposter syndrome. What I think happens is my inner critical voice becomes quieter as my actions outweigh the critic. At times, my critical voice encourages me to push beyond what I thought I was capable of, to keep going, strive harder but it has the capacity to overdo it and turn into a punitive judgmental drill sergeant which no longer serves me. Who am I impersonating? Who’s image am I comparing myself to as my baseline? When I dissect the ideas I have behind the condition of imposter syndrome I see that I’m acquiescing to a system that doesn’t serve my highest creative freedom. I am comparing myself with others who have decided what is ‘successful’ or ‘good’ or ‘correct’ in any given area, field, or discipline. If I am being my most authentic self and creating art from a place that is true to me because I have to get the ideas or images or stories or emotions out of me then how can I be impersonating someone else? The more I am able to embrace my own journey and process the better I feel. When I get snared in the net of commerce and popularity I am led off my path thinking someone’s path is mine, I get confused and I compare my insides to other people’s outsides and I brow beat myself with expectations and judgements of myself; I live in results and fear can swallow me. For me to be an artist is a daily affirmation to be myself. The challenging task for me is balancing the pursuit of daily art and being self supporting because I can get spun around with creating for what I think others want, what I see others buying, rather than creating what needs to be expressed by me. The more I stay on my own path the less opportunity I will have to fall into the temptations of comparing myself to someone and trying to  impersonate someone else.

My inner critic also keeps me right sized. We are equally here to find our passion and purpose; that is each of our personal journeys. There are times when I slip too far into listening to my critical voice and in those times it’s my community, my friends, my family, my higher power that I rely upon for support and encouragement. I choose to be around people that champion me, who lovingly challenge me to be my best possible self. They help me to see the truth of things both positive and negative versus what at times is my distorted warped vision of myself and my life. My community helps reinforce my resilience and courage to keep on keeping on.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
I’m an artist, maybe a creative explorer. NuISMS is my art moniker andI guess my brand. An ‘ism’ is an ideology or a theory and I’m Jeff Newman: NuISMS started with the idea of reinventing everything we know about ourselves and everything around us. The challenge for myself was to have a new experience with everything I thought I knew about myself and the world around me. I think it’s pretty rare to have a completely original idea, most ideas have been smashed and broken and reconstructed into something slightly different.  I paint, I write, I act, I stitch, I enjoy creating things, whether it is a story or a piece of art I find solace in creating. It challenges every part of me, I don’t know if I ever feel like I have anything ‘down.’ I have a sort of built in forgetter and I forget how I have done things I have done for years but the how of it slips my mind. My solution to that feeling is continuous practice or continuous action, creating at times in multiple areas but most often feeding my creativity income fashion: actively painting, or writing something, rehearsing something, reading listening to books and podcasts, watching documentaries or films and tv, boxing, yoga, walking, and also being still on a daily basis – the practice of being; in all of these actives doing my best to be present in them for myself and open to and for the connection to something greater than myself.
Coming out of the pandemic I was pretty active because during 2021 I had written a one person show/ art show: I wanna be Jeff Newman, about how art helps/helped me become my most authentic self. The show was directed by Jana Lee Hamblin and we produced the show in April of 2022. It was a proof of concept that proved to be well received during our limited run. Currently I am working with a producer to bring the show back up in 2024. After the show I started a podcast that I produce from time to time called the You Be You Podcast about ways people have become their authentic selves. Painting wise, I started simplifying some of my work using vibrant colors while throwing paint creating shapes and figures left to the viewers imagination. While pursuing that direction I was led to beginning to work with resin poured over the art which brings. Out the richness of the color even more. Working with resin has been and continues to be a humbling learning process. In the past spring I was grateful to be a part of the Momentum Theater Companies production of Cat’s-Paw by William Mastrosimone and directed by Tony Denison. The play is a dramatic thriller, written in the 80’s, about clean water, eco-terrorism, and the media; still tragically very relevant today. During the rehearsal process of the play I was a part of a group pop-up art show: “Reckless Endearment,” which I presented my newest work. In addition this year I have had the opportunity to collaborate with my friend Kurt Sutter on some Anarchy Pieces that helped raise money for charities. Most recently I have had the honor of  working with the theater company ‘Allwayz on Stage,’ in Thousand Oaks, that features performers of all abilities. I was grateful to have created art pieces with them for the fundraising of their most recent production and fabulous version of High School Musical. Now I am looking for the next project to focus on and am getting back into my studio painting and working on some story ideas while working closely with my producer on bringing back my one person show/art show – keep creating, keep going!

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
My tenaciousness; just create regardless of what you think – just create, just keeping going, maybe take some breaks, but don’t quit – keep going. Secondly my work ethic, have a routine and stick to it. I have become more flexible as I have gotten older but the a routine helps give me structure. Thirdly – practice. Everything in life is rinse and repeat so take each opportunity to bring new awareness to every situation, adjusting and practicing. The more I practice the more comfortable I become with everything even when I forget because once I start taking the next best indicated actions, I am filled with some esteem which triggers a knowing of connection to others and to the universe and that is the fuel that I strive to feed off.

To close, maybe we can chat about your parents and what they did that was particularly impactful for you?
My father was a man of high integrity and stoic determination. He was driven by a work ethic that certainly instilled in me. I had a strong desire to prove worthy of his love throughout my childhood and teens shaped me and it cracked me open when he died in my late teens. It was both impactful and life changing. I made a lot of choices negative and a few positive in the pursuit of self discovery. Several years into that journey my mother made what I now see as probably one of the hardest decisions for a mother or parent. After years of watching me spiral downward and trying to help me she had the love, strength, courage and faith to step away from me because as she said it: ‘I can’t watch you slowly kill yourself.’ She allowed me to fail, to fall on my face and to suffer the consequences of my actions and to handle those consequences myself. It was in those few years that I was gifted, once again, to hit another bottom. It was then that I had no one else to bail me out; that I surrendered and was able to ask for and receive help from others. There were those who were selflessly willing to help me clean up my life so I could begin to take positive actions and self-discovery. I want to be a part of life and to give back rather than always wrestle from life what I want.

Contact Info:

Image Credits
headshot photographed by Keida Mascaro b&w show shots photographed by Clutch Pockets Wambli Cat’s-Paw shot by Mo Feldmen

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