Story & Lesson Highlights with Jye Harrison of Berlin

We’re looking forward to introducing you to Jye Harrison. Check out our conversation below.

Hi Jye, thank you so much for joining us today. We’re thrilled to learn more about your journey, values and what you are currently working on. Let’s start with an ice breaker: Who are you learning from right now?
I recently joined a queer neurodivergent artistic community. There are so many people there who I can relate to in different ways. Many of them are quite advanced in communication as well as just being part of a community. It has been a challenging time, because I am learning new ways in which I have been ignoring my own needs. I noticed that often times I will ask about another person’s needs instead of stating my own if I would like something. “Do you mind if I come over?” instead of “I would like to come over, would that be okay?” Part of this is social convention, but part of it is this push to make myself smaller.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I’m Jye, they/them/she/her, an interdisciplinary Berlin-based artist and writer with a growing focus in clown and performance art. researcher and clown trainer living and working in Berlin. Right now I’m balancing local exhibitions, clown meetups, writing and design work.

Right now I am working on a project to form a clown troupe who can do regular performances. I aim to make the performances relevant, whimsical, political, and delightful to attend, with a group of clowns who can really connect and work well as an ensemble. My goal is to have it so that we are able to perform in different settings: formal performances on stage, but also in the streets and invading the public sphere.

My visual art continues at a slower pace. Berlin is a place where the market is so saturated that you really need to travel away from the city if you are looking for more profitable markets. So for now, I still do exhibitions, and make private sales, but for now it is not my primary focus.

Great, so let’s dive into your journey a bit more. What relationship most shaped how you see yourself?
My relationship with my clown teacher and yoga instructor, Cal, shaped how I see myself as an artist. Cal founded Rubber Soul Yoga Studio and the Dream Theatre of Pure Form in Athens, Georgia. Before meeting Cal, I didn’t really recognize myself as an artist, but when I met them, it felt like I had found my first true role model. Studying with them changed everything: I trained at their clown school, became a yoga instructor at their studio, and spent my most formative time in the clown ensemble. They had created a real bohemian sort of communal space where people were always coming and going. I’d always wanted to perform, but clowning offered a different, braver approach that helped me work through my social anxieties and find my voice.

When did you stop hiding your pain and start using it as power?
Clowning again was the key to this. It gave me tools so that I could be deeply uncomfortable on stage, and share that discomfort openly. This wide open emotional connection to the audience was the most effective thing I had ever experienced in making some compelling performanc.e

So a lot of these questions go deep, but if you are open to it, we’ve got a few more questions that we’d love to get your take on. Is the public version of you the real you?
I think the public version of me is an embodiment of my real values. But the real version is a lot less confident, a lot more cynical, and a great deal more afraid of all the mistakes they are making.

Before we go, we’d love to hear your thoughts on some longer-run, legacy type questions. How do you know when you’re out of your depth?
I think I spend only 10 percent of my time in my depth. The rest is far outside of what I think I am capable of. I have simply learned to do things anyway, despite being possibly the worst qualified person to be doing them.

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