We recently connected with Kim Justice and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Kim, thanks for joining us today. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?
I vividly remember being about 5 years old and asking my mom if she could pause the TV so I could draw Mr. Rogers. He wouldn’t sit still long enough for me to get any kind of detail down and I was real mad about it. But it turns out you couldn’t pause live TV in the early 90s. Tragic. So, I’ve been obsessed with making art for as long as I can remember. It’s always been the thing I focused all of my energy into when I needed to escape the stress of real life. As soon as I figured out it could be a job, that was the dream from then on. You’re telling me I can do what I love AND make money from it? Sign me up.
Kim, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
Sure! My name is Kim Justice and I’m an artist and business owner from Flint, Michigan. In late 2022, after over a decade of working as the assistant manager and buyer for my local art museum’s gift shop, I was compelled to make the very difficult decision to leave. I loved that job, and I didn’t want to stop doing it. I loved finding new artists and getting to know about their lives and their work. I loved sharing that work with others and helping to promote all of these wonderfully talented people. So, since I had all of this experience and knowledge of how to run a retail space, I thought, why not just make my own? So, I spent a few months building a website and contacting artists who might like to be a part of it. The website went live in early 2022 with work from 11 different independent artists offering original artwork and home decor, prints, handmade gift items, jewelry and accessories, stickers, etc. In addition to the website, I started vending at various craft shows and doing my best to get as many eyes on our work as possible.
As far as my own artwork, honestly I’ll try any medium I can get my hands on. Like most other neurospicy artists, I can’t just stick to one thing. Currently, my list includes drawing, painting, wood burning, jewelry making, resin, cross-stitch, refurbishing and redesigning home decor… the list goes on. But my main focus is creating digital paintings using Procreate. My style is hard to describe – kind of a weird mix of photorealism and surrealism, with a little creepiness and a whole lot of color thrown in. A lot of my original art is inspired by the complexities of mental health. In addition to prints, stickers, home decor, and other merchandise featuring my art, I also do commissioned portraits (human and animal), which is always super fun for me.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
It’s actually OK to not be perfect.
Being a neurodivergent person in a world that isn’t made for you is difficult. I grew up trying incredibly hard to do things that seemed like they came so naturally to other people. I thought that there must just be something inherently wrong with me, so I better learn to do everything perfectly so no one would find out I’m different. People don’t like when you’re different. Turns out, they also don’t like when you ask too many questions about why they do the things they do. You’re just supposed to do it. Even if it makes absolutely zero sense. Just act like them. Learn to play like them. Learn to have conversations like them. Learn to mimic their facial expressions correctly. Make sure you’re not doing anything weird with your movements. Don’t focus on how loud and painfully bright the fluorescent lights are. It doesn’t seem to bother anyone else. Maintain eye contact. Also, pay attention to what they’re saying while you’re internally policing your every movement and trying to ignore every annoying bit of sensory input in the general area and you’re starting to feel physically sick. If you don’t hide all of that, they’ll think you’re weird. Or rude. Or that you don’t care what they have to say, even if you are genuinely interested in the conversation. Of course I couldn’t keep that mask up 24/7, but I sure tried to. And it was exhausting.
For a long time that drive for perfection and control translated into my artwork as well. I would just sit down, focus in, and completely replicate my subject down to the smallest detail. Much like the rest of life, I thought that’s what art was supposed to be – just create a perfect copy of what you see in front of you. And then everyone will love it! But as I got older, I got tired of just replicating things. It wasn’t what I really wanted to do. Don’t get me wrong, I still absolutely love doing portraits. I love the challenge and I love the fact that the tiniest details can take a portrait from, “that girl looks vaguely familiar,” to “that’s obviously Lady Gaga.” But if I wanted to truly relax and enjoy creating, I needed to let go of some of that rigidity and stop worrying about making it perfect.
So, with some inspiration from a friend, I started experimenting with acrylic pour painting in an attempt to learn how to let go of control. In that medium, although you make some decisions like which colors and techniques to use, there is absolutely no way of completely controlling the outcome. Sometimes you’ll think, “This is going to be such a gorgeous color combination,” and then it turns out to be a muddy mess. Other times, it turns out to be 100 times better than you expected. Even if you recreate the exact same process you just did 5 minutes ago on the first painting, the next one will definitely not turn out the same. They’re impossible to recreate. And that felt incredibly freeing.
Since then, I’ve been making a huge effort to apply that lesson not only in my art, but also in life. The pressure to always make things outwardly appear “perfect” and “normal” was what lead me to complete burnout. It made a huge negative impact on my mental health. It contributed to my chronic fatigue and physical pain. It was a pressure I put on myself because I thought I had to do it in order to be accepted. But in reality, I’ve made more real, genuine friendships since I started letting go of the mask and being myself than I ever did when I was trying to hide.
In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?
If you think about it, there is art involved in every part of society. Architecture, transportation, food, clothes, jewelry, books, music, movies, TV, tattoos, every single ad, logo, and label you see. We decorate our homes with art and furniture that make us feel comfortable and happy. Artists, designers, inventors, and creators are responsible for making everything we own and enjoy. Yet, art and music in schools are the first programs to go when there are budget cuts. It isn’t socially valued on the same level as things like math, science, and technology. When we’re young we’re encouraged to work toward getting jobs in things like business, healthcare, and IT because they’re deemed more important and more financially secure. But how do businesses succeed? By catching consumers’ attention with marketing, advertising, and graphic design. If you’re looking at 3 products on a shelf and all of them do the same thing and are relatively the same price, which one are you picking? The one that looks the best, thanks to a graphic designer. Or the one you remember from that one commercial, thanks to advertisers, actors, and videographers. But a huge amount of people who dedicate their lives to creative professions struggle to make a living from it. We’ve all heard the phrase “starving artist.”
If we could convince society to make more of an effort to support, respect, and value creatives for everything they do to improve our lives, I don’t see anything but good things coming from that. We’d have talented kids who are encouraged to keep honing their skills so they can have a career doing something that they genuinely love. If more people were able to do what they love and make a decent living, that would definitely have a positive impact on mental health. The state of our mental health has a huge affect on our physical health. If people were happier, healthier, and more financially secure, they’d be willing to spend more time and money on things they enjoy. And (this one’s for the more business-minded folks) when more people are spending more money, what does that do? It boosts the economy.
So, basically, what I’m trying to say can be summed up by the bumper sticker I’ve had on my car for years. “Artwork IS work. Supporting the arts means paying the artists.”
Contact Info:
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