We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Mariah Seales a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Mariah, 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.
Taking breaks! For the past few years, I’ve sustained myself almost exclusively with my creativity. As fulfilling as it’s been, for me it’s not sustainable. Working constantly, being spread thin between different projects and creative mediums, while trying to maintain a personal life, was a lot! I found myself experiencing burnout more often than not and I wasn’t able to enjoy the fulfillment that comes with completion, because I was on to the next project. I was exhausted and my creativity suffered from it. A turning point came when I started studying Human Design. I realized that as a Projector, that’s not the best way for me to work. Though I haven’t mastered the skill of balancing it all, I’m learning how to better incorporate periods of rest. Taking intentional breaks allows me to live and experience life; to nurture the relationship I have with myself and my loved ones. It also makes room for inspiration by allowing the time to imagine and dream. Letting my creativity rest keeps it alive.
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?
Hi, I’m Mariah Seales! Originally from Hopkinsville, KY, I am a queer, black, do-it-all creative based in Nashville, TN. Professionally, I’ve worked as a Live Sound Engineer, PA’d in the Art Department on an upcoming Amazon film, I even got to try my hand at tour managing this past summer. Someone recently called me “a Renaissance woman” and I’d have to agree. My current creative focus is visual art, using acrylic mediums to create pixelated images.
After taking a break from the music industry in 2020, my early artwork drew inspiration from album covers. Playfully insinuating that when you know a body of music well enough, you can recognize it even while out of focus. As my artistry has grown, I’ve started to expand the scope of my out of focus works in a way that captures life from my unique point of view. My most recent collection, “WLW”, focuses on portraits of queer woman in embrace by leaving the images out of focus. Each image is pixelated to protect the love shared between two women from monolithic ideas that sexualize it. Simultaneously, it reminds those who’ve experienced that love/embrace of all that it means when women love women. The last piece in the collection is a self portrait, titled “SELFIE”. It was created using a mirror as the canvas in celebration of my journey to self love.
The most exciting part about this journey has been finding new ways to express myself. Taking the risk that comes with changing lanes or focus has allowed me to not only build confidence in my innate skills, but it’s also made my life one where freedom and artistic autonomy are prioritized.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
Great ask! The three that come to mind are being teachable, self control, and practicing self celebration.
Being teachable and able to learn from any experience, good and bad, has help me grow tremendously. A huge part of the journey as a creative is learning as you go and knowing that you don’t and won’t have all of the answers. Staying open-minded and looking for the lessons in life is a great skill to hone.
Self-control is another skill I’ve learn to value. Not just in a way that centers restraint, but in the practice of self sovereignty. There’s so much in life that is out of our control, especially as a person of color living in the United States. I know that no one is free until we’re all free, but unfortunately that kind of freedom will never be state-sanctioned. So it’s on us do what we can to create freedom for ourselves in any way that we can. That within itself is an act of rebellion. It all starts there.
And lastly, I think it’s so important to celebrate yourself! A lot of times as a creative, we sometimes suffer with the disappointment that comes with lack of recognition. If you’re not the kind of person that intentionally practices self affirmation, your self worth my feel tied to the opinions of others. Learning how to celebrate yourself is a great way to build confidence that is unshakable because it’s rooted within.
As we end our chat, is there a book you can leave people with that’s been meaningful to you and your development?
Oh! Definitely ‘Belonging’ by bell hooks! Being that we both grew up in Hopkinsville made the experience of reading it even more special. And a lot of what stood out to me in the book was the importance of knowing one’s history. Not only knowing who and where you came from, but to know who you are, who you’ve been, and the journey and experiences between those people. Learn it, know it all in great detail, and honor that by sharing it with others. But the “nugget” that felt most impactful is this: “We are born and have our being in a place of memory. We chart our lives by everything we remember from the mundane moment to the majestic. We know ourselves through the art and act of remembering. Memories offer us a world where there is no death, where we are sustained by rituals of regard and recollection.”
To create is a deeply personal way to express yourself and it often times requires a lot of self validation. Being deeply rooted in this knowing and remembering allows for the truth of who you are to stay at the forefront of what you put into the world.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @mariahseales
Image Credits
Emily April Allen Photography. Daniel Meigs. Thomas “Keep3” McDougal.
