Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Lumin O. Morgan. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Lumin O., thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.
One of the most meaningful project I’ve ever created was made with a dear friend of mine and incredible artist named Wren Turner, (Her handle on Instagram is @cheriscales) and it was this mini comic that we titled, “Replanted.” I wrote this zine as a way to express myself and how I felt about the status of my friendships at the time. I invited her to make the zine with me as way to appreciate the people I had in my life and it gave me a chance to collaborate with an amazing friend. I just left a large friend group that I didn’t feel as if I fit into months prior, and I felt I needed to make something that grounded me. It meant a lot to me to make something deeply personal and being able to share that with a supportive friend.
When I first started out posting my art online, I tended to hide behind my art, using it as a shield, but as I grew and developed, the more I realized how important it is to express myself. I learned overtime that writing about personal experiences was a healthy way for me to process events in my life and that others could gain something from learning about it.
It is healthier to make work that allows you to speak rather than hide your true feelings.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
My name is Lumin O. Morgan and I was a self taught artist for years until I started taking classes in high school and later at the Savannah College of Art and Design. I am currently majoring in Sequential Art and best type of work I got within this industry was by doing immense research and surrounding myself with collaborative people. I am a comic artist. writer, character artist, and illustrator that enjoys creating creator-owned stories that explores complex topics with nuance and grace. My dream with my career is to create a graphic novel series, called The Spirit’s Apprentice that explores themes of otherness, bigotry and religion. If you’re interested in a series like that, feel free to stop on by on my social media and give me a follow. I also greatly enjoy making mini comics, collaborating on projects , character design, and merch design. I plan to start tabling more after I graduate from SCAD at the end of May around the state of Maryland. I shall post more about that closer towards those dates. One thing I know that I am proud of is my growth and progress. I am not the same artist I was three years ago and I’m grateful for the many skills I’ve developed since then.
Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?
The ability to express myself is my main goal here. Without the ability to express emotions, ideas, and thoughts, stories have a hard time reaching others. I know that when I pick up a story, the best ones come from the artist themselves. It is that connection with the ideas, concepts, and emotions that’s written within it that give me such inspiration, hope, and rejuvenation that I can only hope to be able to give others some day. I want to be an artist that can help others through staying true to myself and my feelings. There cannot be a connection with an audience without showing who I am first, and I realize that is something that I must remember throughout my career.
In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?
Prioritize human artists over AI in every investment you make. Humans have something that AI can never replicate: the human experience and relatability. Us humans have our entire lives to live, loving, breathing, experiencing, and learning, has AI ever breathed and experienced life the way we have? Absolutely not. As of right now, AI does not have the capabilities of living a life of its own with their own emotions, beliefs, thoughts, and experiences. Humans find humans more relatable than anything because we all roam this planet together. AI maybe able to copy the work that humans took ages throughout history to perfect, but they can never replicate the sweat and tears it takes to create. I know that when me and my peers see that company or someone uses AI art to promote themselves and their brand, its hard to want to either be a consumer or work for them. Using it shows a lack of effort, a misunderstanding of their audience, and a priority of cutting costs over supporting real people. Promoting human artists is the bare minimum and should be taken more seriously, because without humans holding the pencil, there cannot be any authenticity in the world. Human artists have the depth, the life experiences, and the hard work that AI could never replicate. AI also destroys our environment in devastating ways that’s leading our world to be less inhabitable for us. The more we use AI, the more we destroy ourselves.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.illuminosityworld.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/illuminosity_world/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/illuminosityworld/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lumin-o-morgan-109677332/?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=ios_app
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@illuminosity_world
- Other: Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@illuminosity_world
Image Credits
Replanted: Wren Turner (@cheriscales on Instagram) Line Artist