Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Becca Barnet. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hi Becca, thanks for joining us today. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?
Creating has been my passion as long as I can remember. I needed a lot of help and encouragement with academics, but never had to be reminded to make art. I’d make outfits for my dolls, draw animated characters from memory, and grab red clay from the ground to hand-sculpt. My mom would give me art supplies and unexpected household items to make all types of crafts. I transformed our home’s basement into a diorama over the years- painting every surface and adding 3D items like plastic as a waterfall, faux fur as animal skins, and fabric as vines to cover the stair rail.
I was not able to fit art into my schedule for junior year and was lucky to transfer to a private school to in order to focus on my portfolio. I attended the Rhode Island School of design to study Illustration, attending taxidermy school between semesters. The American Museum of Natural History accepted my internship after college and eventually hired me to work as a preparator. I made replicas of objects too delicate to travel, sculpted faux animals, fruit, pots, rocks, dinosaurs – it was my privilege to watch the experienced artists work and I learned about so many amazing materials and techniques from working with them.
Becca, 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?
In 2012, I left NYC for Charleston, SC – a city both close and far away enough from my hometown of Spartanburg, SC. I was drawn to Charleston for the historic preservation and architecture, but also the rapid growth of the city.
After moving back to SC, I worked with the South Carolina Aquarium as the lead fabricator for the “Journey to Madagascar” exhibit. I realized that I wanted to continue to create custom artwork, but wasn’t sure who to work for. I realized then that I could combine my interests, experiences, and skill sets using a design/build format – and Sisal Creative was born!
At Sisal Creative, we create transformative art for museum exhibits, corporate spaces, and residences. We work with designers to make their visions come to life, and we also conceptualize art installations before fabricating them. Onboarding clients to ensure that we understand their mission and ethos, everything we create is original and site-specific.
We believe that every café, museum, hotel or office should inspire, surprise, and delight. From tiny curiosities to grand installations, Sisal Creative turns your idea or brand into a bespoke, immersive design. For each project, we consider all aspects of the desired feeling or response you’re looking to spark in the space. Our unique, widely-varied skills allow us to create, preserve or re-appropriate whatever is needed to produce that experience. Whether you’re starting with a broad vision or a fully branded plan, our studio is equipped to consult on, design, and produce virtually any artistic experience in any media.
Eleven years in, I am still learning so much, and I’m grateful every day that I get to make amazing things for cool people.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
I love making anonymous, custom artwork, especially anything educational/museum related. My favorite part is challenging myself to use unexpected materials to achieve a specific vision. I never sign my work – I view it as not so much fine art and more as an interesting, site-specific, interactive product,
Any way you define it, I love handing off what I make to the client knowing it is now in their hands, not mine.
I enjoy the anonymity of that process. I imagine that each person who interacts with my work gets to interpret it in their own way, and that my name or brand does not influence those moments. Every installation has a life of its own!
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
IMPOSTER SYNDROME!
Growing up, even with the support I have/had from friends and family, I was told making art wasn’t a proper job. I can’t speak for or imagine how others receive/interpret these messages from society, but as a cis-woman, I’ve been told and shown (both indirectly and directly) that I am not worthy of winning job bids, being paid well, or making amazing things.
Not by everyone, of course. Generally, I’ve found that society likes to put women (especially weird ones) in categories and identify them as archetypes. A creative woman can be terrifying to those to aren’t willing to feel a bit curious, open, or maybe even uncomfortable sometimes.
I’ve experienced women not supporting other women- tearing them down and being competitive. In professional settings, I have been sexually harassed- told I should be “somewhere making a sandwich for someone” – that kind of crap. As an anxious person, I’ve held on to anything negative as confirmation that I couldn’t possibly be good enough- for anything.
Nothing is black or white, so maybe some aspects of all of the above have bits of truth. One positive- my self judgement has made me work harder, so I can thank it for that, at least!
Over the years, impossible amounts of internal pressure and imposter syndrome have become my inner saboteurs. It’s super hard to convince people they NEED custom, (essentially luxury) artwork, and some days I feel that what I want to do/am doing is impossible. It is too easy to convince myself that I don’t deserve any success.
I’m working on shutting those voices down when they arrive. I notice them and welcome them in, curiously wondering why they are there, and then tell them they are defenses I no longer need. None of that negativity is truly MY voice. I ask them to leave, and try to replace them with something I find true, hopeful, or something I would want to say to a friend or loved one. Something NOT self deprecating.
Thinking I “don’t deserve success” or I “can’t make anything worth buying” is one of the hardest habits to unlearn and one of the meanest internal demons. I am still working every day to shift those thoughts into positive ones. I don’t identify with constant positivity or complete confidence, but, I’m lucky and I don’t want this to sound like a pity party. I’m grateful for my wins and my losses. I hope that sharing my experience with having to unlearn imposter syndrome and the anxieties that come with it can help other creatives feel like they are not alone.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.sisalcreative.com
- Instagram: @sisalcreative @beccabarnet
Image Credits
Cameron Wilder, Becca Barnet, Leslie McKellar, Alex Waggoner