We were lucky to catch up with MaKinlie McRae recently and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, MaKinlie thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Do you feel you or your work has ever been misunderstood or mischaracterized? If so, tell us the story and how/why it happened and if there are any interesting learnings or insights you took from the experience?
My creative practice started the second I could hold a pencil. I feel like I was born to be an artist and creative; I’ve known who I am from a very young age and that kind of confidence can very often be misunderstood. I developed a love for writing around age 10 when I discovered that <i>I</i> was the only one who ever listened to me. Except for paper—paper listened. Paper always accepted my perspective and provided a landscape free of judgement where my ideas could come alive. Paper didn’t tell me how inconvenient it was when I expressed the depths of my emotions. After years of gathering resources and building skills, those ideas once etched in notebooks and journals finally became tangible and now flourish through my artistic practice. I will always have some kind of cultural or institutional critique to convey, I just have to find my audience and those who <i>want</i> to listen.
All I have ever wanted was to be seen and understood, which is a driving force behind my work and the curator in my love for visual communication and storytelling. Whether photographing myself, or someone I find inspiring, I strive to only capture the most authentic version of whoever is in front of my camera. I want to be loved for who I am and what I believe in, not out of obligation. I see everyone around me so deeply that it’s been described as a superpower, but what most don’t realize is I crave to be seen the same way. I’ve only met one person who sees me the way I need, and lucky for me, I get to call him my husband. I need community as a creative, and I try to use my art as a tool to find my people. People that understand the socio-political undertones and deeper context behind the images. Curious people that ask, <i>”how?</i>” or <i>”why?”</i> People that are interested in art at all in rural Kansas. My work is a visual illustration of who I am and what I’ve survived. It’s a story of profound loss, suicide, grief, resilience, absence, tumultuous relationship dynamics, authenticity, and vulnerability.
The things I’ve experienced in my short life can make it extremely difficult to relate to those my age. Very few people I know have lost a parent this young, and even fewer through suicide. I don’t expect them to understand how isolating it can feel or what a f*cking nightmare it is to be left behind. However, most can relate to grief or sadness of some kind. I want them to take what they need from the work. I want to empower people to keep fighting and show them what it looks like to grieve someone you love. I don’t want people to relate to the void that will live in my chest forever, I want to help them understand who I am and that I am not a victim. I choose to wake up each day ready to fight—to continue surviving. Above all, I want my work to help people and create a community where it’s okay to be broken. Radical self acceptance. My artwork will always be my emotional outlet, but I find the process of creating much more cathartic than the outcome. This is who I am, take it or leave it. I’ve learned that the ones who get it, really get it, and the ones who don’t never will. And that’s okay. The ones who get it are worth waiting for—and your story is worth telling.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I was born in Belleville, Kansas, but raised in the country on a farm nestled between Downs, Osborne and Tipton, Kansas. Family members have shared that I expressed my creativity through fashion, drawing, painting, photography, dance, singing and performing for as long as they could remember; meaning this career path came as no surprise to anyone. I am the daughter of Kelli, a Kindergarten teacher and the late Jason Hennes, a blue-collar man of many trades who lost his battle to addiction and committed suicide when I was 15-years-old. I attended and graduated from Lakeside High School in Downs, Kansas; the school district my mother teaches for, and after high school, I attended Fort Hays State University (FHSU) and obtained a BFA in Graphic Design, graduating in 2019. More recently, I graduated from FHSU in December of 2022 with a Master of Fine Arts degree in Intermedia with concentrations in Photography, Performance Art and Graphic Design, and I have been working for a Kansas-based and rural focused telecommunications company as their Graphic Designer and Photographer since November of 2022. I married my husband, Draven McRae, in April of 2024 and we couldn’t be happier. We have been together for five years and now live in Scott City, Kansas with our mini dachshunds, Squish and Cowboy.
Outside of my full-time job, I continue to explore my personal, artistic practice. I have been working with digital photography for a decade, and continue to learn and experiment with my evolving practice each year. Whenever I can find the time, I try to squeeze in a few freelance design projects here and there. I work with many clients from community foundations to food trucks, but I mostly focus on aiding small businesses for affordable prices. I also utilize film photography and the darkroom process and am excited to implement this medium into my work more. Formally, I focus on textures, dramatic lighting, black/white and color digital editing. My work is centered around advocacy, storytelling, honest vulnerability, and the autonomy over the sense of self. I enjoy sharing my own experiences as well as providing a platform for the stories of others. My photo work has been shown in various gallery shows throughout the state of Kansas, including the Moss-Thorns Gallery of Art and Patricia A. Schmidt Gallery at Fort Hays State University, the Colby Prairie Museum of Art and History, the FHSU Art and Design: Fortitude and Persistence show at the Hays Arts Center, The Hays Arts Center Annex, and more.
I have many projects churning on the back burner, but for now, I am most excited about the expansion of the 43 Tiles Campaign, which uses photography and videography to bring awareness to rape culture and sexual assault. I aim to create a radically inclusive campaign that sheds light on the many different kinds of assault and effectively communicates that this could happen to anyone no matter your age, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, where you live, and so on. I was sexually assaulted at 16-years-old, but it wasn’t until my senior year of undergrad that I was ready to uncover this trauma and share it with the world in hopes of helping others. The name of the campaign derives from the scene of the crime—I stared at the ceiling tiles of his bedroom and counted all forty-three over and over until it stopped. I am a one-woman show, which means progress can be slow, but we surge forward nonetheless. I recently met with Options Domestic and Sexual Violence Services of Kansas, and in doing so have formed a partnership moving forward. Once I provide all of the information for them, they will inform their clients of my project in the chance they would like to tell their story. For more information, make sure to check out my websites!
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
The driving force and mission behind my practice is ethical, authentic storytelling. Whether I am telling my own story, or providing a platform for those who inspire me, my goal is to capture my subject as authentically as possible. The highest compliment someone could give me is that I captured their real smile or that I took their favorite self portrait. There is no other motive behind my practice other than helping others, sharing perspectives, and creating work that cultivates conversation and introspective thought. I doubt my art will change the world, but as long as it changes a couple minds, that sounds pretty good me.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
We are history makers and culture creators. 100 years from now people will look back on the work we are making today as a reference point to what life was like. You can’t tell me that time machines don’t exist–they are called creatives. Through the power of social documentation, no matter the medium, we can freeze time and gift a piece of the present to the future. The things we create have the power to unite masses and share perspectives. We have the ability to take a thought and turn it into something tangible. Everything about being a creative is rewarding from the problem solving to the lessons learned throughout the process.
Contact Info:
- Website: makinliemcrae.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kinliemcrae/profilecard/?igsh=Zzg3MmtqMTZkcnNl
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/makinlie-mcrae-75bb46179?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=ios_app
- Other: 43tilescampaign.com