We were lucky to catch up with Amy Holmes Scoggins recently and have shared our conversation below.

Amy , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

The most meaningful work that I have done in my art practice was conceptually born as we finally received and began to deeper understand the diagnoses for my children’s chronic illnesses. The relief and information that flooded our world after 15 years of fighting for answers materialized into physical artwork unlike anything I had ever done before.

Amy , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I am a mom, a painter, and an educator working in Arkansas. When I paint, I work primarily in oils with a love for old buildings, dramatic lights, industrial lines, and abandoned spaces. In a very different approach, I build multi-media large-scale sculptures that are rooted in medical advocacy and informed by my family’s fight against chronic illness. I suppose both pieces of my artistic practice contain threads of untold stories and mysterious narratives.

My heart has always been for the people who I reach through the many ways art is used in my life. Sometimes those people are in my classes as I have the honor of leading someone in their own drawing development. Other times, those people are across the globe, have walked a similar path of chronic illness, and finally feel seen in my (somewhat bizarre and unsettling) art.

The exhibit that developed from my multi-media explorations, “Unyielding: A Family’s Fight Against Chronic Illness”, is the most important art that I have completed. It tells the story of caretaking, motherhood, and childhood illness. It begs viewers to see and believe their loved ones. There is not a more important message that I could ever share. Please, let’s open our eyes with compassion to those in our paths.

The process of creating that work was both liberating and cathartic, terrifying and exhilarating. Never had I worked with materials in that way. Found objects (medical detritus and stuffed animals), body casting, woodworking, sculpture, and collage- it was all new to me. Cycles of discoveries, frustration, and failures were part of the construction, which mirrors the path of those who are chronically ill. Desperation to spread this awareness fueled the work, and a powerful community of caretakers (and those who suffer) contributed materials, feedback, and encouragement.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

I am no expert with social media, and my audience is relatively small, but it was a crucial part of my advocacy project. I appreciate how, in spite of all the negative drawbacks that can come with social media, it can be used for authentic purposes.

For two years I chronicled the building of my work- behind the scenes, the mistakes, the successes- and used those short clips as teaching opportunities. “Today I’m attempting to build toes and ankles….let me tell you why…”
The videos were wildly uncomfortable to make, so vulnerable, and took forever, seeming to steal studio time. Yet I watched as they were the tool which grew the community and spread the message. They became as important as the finished work, if not more so, and reached millions of people.

My advice would be to know your purpose when approaching the use of social media and remain authentic to that. While educating yourself on how the system works is helpful, prioritizing algorithms and statistics will steal your joy and ultimately cripple your creative process. I tried to play the analytics game because I was desperate to share my message. However, watching performance numbers and painful hours editing brought anxiety and unreliable results. Eventually, I resolved to release it and simply produce a reasonable attempt at “content” so that I could get back to the studio. Balance had to be restored. I think the world is growing weary of having our phones in our hands, at least I hope so.

Have you ever had to pivot?

Motherhood was a beautiful and welcome thing to have brought my greatest life pivot. Mothering children who were mysteriously chronically ill was a whole version of life that arrived unexpectedly with challenges that brought nearly a twenty year pause to all else. My creative soul was not dormant, however. It was learning and storing up strength and a bold vision that exploded into a tangible art form when the time was right. Staggering through the medical battlefields, my babes in my arms, I was filled with insight and purpose unlike any that I had ever known before.

Catherine Ricketts, in her powerful book “The Mother Artist”, puts these thoughts far more eloquently than I:
“In all this looking, my view of the world is reframed by maternal humanism, composed of awe, curiosity, and adoration for the vulnerable ones of this world- which is to say, all of us.
Why persevere in making art? Because our communities need art made by those who can’t take their eyes off of the vulnerable ones of this world. We need a visual culture, a literary culture, a culture of performance that wakes us up to the dignity of every person.”

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.amyholmesstudio.com
• Instagram: @amy.scoggins
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/scogginsa

Image Credits

Paige Kertesz, Emilie Marston image credit