We recently connected with Candice @SPCHTHRPY Belton and have shared our conversation below.

Candice @SPCHTHRPY, 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?

I usually have multiple irons in the fire. Most recently, it’s been my series called RFLCTN (reflection). I take mirrors and use them as my canvas so that I can apply various affirmations I’ve come to understand through my experiences. The concept and idea was born somewhere in the midst of 2020 where I was at a place in life of feeling so ashamed of myself for my perceived f*ck ups and I struggled to trust myself with myself and give myself the love I was still learning to believe I deserved. There were times I would literally leave lights off in the bathroom so that I didn’t have to look into my own eyes. From that, I kind of had a painful inspiration to face myself in a mirror and infuse affirmations or even lines from my poetry onto them. Then my next vision was to take these mirrors and place them all throughout the streets I’ve wandered in some of my loneliest times so that I can “trick” people into loving themselves. Think about it. When we unexpectedly see writing, we can’t help but read it. And by the time an onlooker finishes reading “I Am Enough” they then realize they were facing themselves while saying that. The onlooker and the art are one in the same. That’s why I called it RFLCTN (reflection).

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Oh man, well to start with my “brand” or handle I settled on being SPCHTHRPY was a bit of a word play and, for me, some ironic humor since I settled on the understanding that words are my medium of art when I had a childhood history of being sent into speech therapy for an impediment. Before settling on the handle though, in my early 20’s, I had experienced my first camping music festival and I knew out in that desert with fellow wildings that I had made it home finally after so many years of being a borderline foster kid, getting passed around from person to person to be looked after. Always feeling that I was a sore thumb, the black sheep, the undesirable. Out of those feelings, I began to establish my values and what I want to be to other people— which put simply is: being to them what I never had. Whether that be support to another artist, acting as a creative consultant connecting dots and people or by tapping into my times of moving and traveling as a site finder. It’s funny how I used to get so down on myself for being “lost” because I didn’t have a singular specialty but I now recognize that as being my gift. After nearly 10 years of working live events and also being an artist involved in multiple kinds of projects, I’ve gained confidence that I can jump into nearly any projects or event and hit the ground running. If I had to say what I’m most proud of, it’d probably be that I’ve surprised myself in standing ten toes down with being defiantly hopeful in the face of adversity and I’d like to believe I’ve successfully taught a few people along the way how to be the same.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

Be to them who and what I never had. Transmute all of those traumas and hurts into a bridge of expression that others can traverse across in their moments of needs. To let others know they are never alone, someone loves you, and you can trust yourself with yourself.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

I deserve to take up space unapologetically. This came from a rough upbringing where to cope with experiences as a youth, I crafted this understanding that being unseen and unheard would keep me safer. So I developed this lifestyle of compressing myself and damn near being a walking contortionist and as this spilled into my adulthood, I truly came to understand how little that “lesson” had served me. I realized how much I was working against my natural radiant state—which is what most people do.     

Contact Info:

• Website: https://linktr.ee/beltonc22
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/spchthrpy?igshid=MTIyMzRjYmRlZg==
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/candicebelton

Image Credits
@goldsightmedia @irispreciadop @oniiix.art @davetherainbow_washere