By Camryn Smith on January 16, 2021 Being immeresed within the local art scene, I've taken note that many artists' physical appearance/personal style is often reflected in their work, whether this is through colors, shapes, or even a feeling. I reached out to people within the MCAD community, as well as a few outlying local artists, to ask them the question, "does your physical appearance/personal style inspire your art or vice-versa?" The artists questioned provided me with an array of answers! London, She/Her, MCAD Student “Yes! I’m pretty simple/minimal and that comes across in my photography.” Jaden, He/Him, MCAD Student “I would say I naturally lean towards drawing black characters due to being black myself but besides that it’s mostly unrelated to my physical appearance.” Chase, They/Them, MCAD Student “Definitely! As a graphic designer, I'm drawn to bright colors and bold patterns that make their way into both my style and art. I also tend to wear a lot of my own stuff, diying thrifted clothes or wearing the things I make to sell. Because I tend to screen print and sell shirts, I always consider my personal style and what I like to wear when making something I intend to sell. my resourcefulness also impacts both, adding on to thrifted clothes and collecting ticket stubs, stickers, and cutouts that end up in collages. i have definitely subconsciously created a distinct aesthetic with type, color, and mixed media that makes its way into both my art and appearance” Kyle, He/Him, MCAD Student “My personal style and art meet at good proportions and color schemes.” Spencer, He/Him, former MCAD Student “I think that there is this almost apocryphal notion that an artist’s work is a direct representation of themselves. In my work, I very rarely use my own image. However, I think that my work is often inspired by things related to my ‘self’. For example, my closet and my work consist of many of the same colors. When I write, the characters possess some of the same traits I find in myself. In my films, I often direct the actors (subconsciously for the most part) to inherit some of myself in their performances, (vernacular, diction, body language), even if that isn’t my actual intent. My work recently has explored themes relating to identity and ownership. Having put so much thought into these complexities I’ve found that my daydreams are now more introspective and critical in relation to once small ideas that have taken on a more abstract and daunting form. Apropos of these conflicting thoughts, I am unable to answer the question definitively.” Raj, He/Him, MCAD Student “My physical qualities are part of my art itself, based on the silhouettes of my overall work in design.” Julie, She/Her, MCAD Professor “I suppose my art inspires my style. Because I work with logs, dirty, messy, materials that I harvest outdoors. I am constantly moving, bending, lifting, hauling. I prefer to wear overalls often simply because they are the most comfortable and practical piece of clothing for how I work and live. I have 4 pairs, not including a heavy denim onesie and insulated coveralls for winter. Other than that, I notice that sometimes the colors I am working with will show up in my wardrobe. I'll be obsessed with a particular blue or yellow ink and I might start wearing a lot of that color. But ultimately, my style is a basic plain tee and overalls 8 times out of 10 because I'd rather spend my time making art than deciding what to wear that day. (ugh, stressful!)” Evan, He/Him, Local Tattoo Artist (Grand Avenue Tattoo) “I always see other people in the paintings they make or in movies where the actor plays an animated character, their personality and some physical characteristics are almost always portrayed through their character. I feel like it’s the same concept. I don’t necessarily do it intentionally but it definitely comes through for me.” Emma, She/Her, MCAD Student “Most definitely! My style comes through in my art, but not so much in my appearance.” Ben, He/Him, MCAD Professor “I don't think that my physically-lived appearance/style informs my work as much as my appearance/style has grown to mirror that feelings/ideas that I am finding my work possessing.” Guillermo, He/Him, MCAD Student “Identity has always been a big question in my life, there was always this searching of sorts, to figure out what makes up my beliefs, and interests, etc. a conscious effort to figure out the unconscious. My physical appearance became something that started to shape my perception and also others perception of myself in different spaces. Overall no, I don’t think that my physical appearance and style inspire my art.” Camryn (Flick), She/They, MCAD Student “I think my style in my artwork and physical appearance are cohesive occasionally, in color and in clothing. With a lot of my artwork I try to encapsulate and visualize themes and feelings that surround idenity.”