We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Adam Anglin a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Adam, appreciate you joining us today. I’m sure there have been days where the challenges of being an artist or creative force you to think about what it would be like to just have a regular job. When’s the last time you felt that way? Did you have any insights from the experience?
Being an artist is really all I’ve known so the idea of having a “normal job” sounds really hard. I’ve definitely had normal jobs in the past and I’m so grateful for the experience of those jobs. They taught me a lot about what it meant to be self sufficient and manage my time well. But I can say without hesitation that I’m happiest when I’m creating. I think the only time I wonder about a different, non-arts related job is when I’m feeling fried. Usually the push to get ready for a gallery show or art festival makes me start to wonder if I’m making the best life choices. That feeling of being on the brink can take it out of you. It’s fleeting but it does come up in the back of my mind. Painting can be a very lonely thing. You have to work at finding community to support you in that work to keep a healthy disposition.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I’m a fine artist (painter) with a background in graphic design and music. My work combines graphic pop art geometric motifs with western landscapes. Conceptually my work is about putting together these converging worlds of synthetic and natural forms. Moving the viewer between these two worlds with purposeful tension. I picked painting back up at the beginning of 2023 after taking a long break from it. I grew up painting, both my mom and aunt are artists and in my younger years they both had a massive influence on me. Teaching me all the foundational elements of composition and design. I think it’s the primary reason I always feel at home creating, even if I haven’t been working in a medium very long. The distinct qualities of my work would be my bold use of color alongside sparse landscapes. If you would pop art or color-field work, I might just be the artist you are looking for. My proudest moment thus far on my little journey happened earlier this year when I was awarded an “Emerging Artist” grant through the Cherry Creek Arts Festival. This grant gave me the financial support I needed to push my work into some new spaces.
In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?
Society is such a huge category so this can kind of be hard to pin down. So, I’m not sure on that part of the question. The very best thing that any individual can do is realize the gift of fine art for themselves. Then connect that enjoyment to individuals in their community. Yes it’s great to buy from any artist, but finding someone in your city or state who’s work you connect with is a powerful thing for raising up, supporting, and promoting the local artists that are striving to make where you live a more beautiful place. For a lot of people supporting artists is going to feel like a big commitment. Art is expensive after all. But, we might be in need of a cultural collective mindset shift when it comes to how we process what it means to buy art. For many of us, we simply don’t have categories for art in our homes. We see it as “extra”. But, what if we were to start thinking of art the same way we think about a nice piece of furniture or a new tv? I suspect that art buying would become a more normal part of everyone’s life. Artists have a call on their lives to create beauty and society has a role to play here in way we treat artists and their work. It takes this kind of sweet symbiotic relationship to bolster a thriving creative ecosystem.
Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?
For me, creating is the journey. I don’t know that I’ve ever thought about the long-term goal or mission of my work as much as needing to create the work in the moment. That’s not to say I don’t have goals. I certainly have dreams and hopes and measurable aspirations but these all feel peripheral. I’m really compelled by the impulse to make work. That seems to be my driving mission. The making. I think a true artist has this kind of impulse. A desire to make without needing special inspiration or alternative motivation. At the risk of sounding somewhat unhinged, I truly believe that I was created to create. I think this is true for so many artists. Not that I’m God’s gift to making art, but that my very existence is tied to my unique desire to create. When I’m living into that calling I’m present in my work and creating many pieces. When I’m not living into that calling, I feel personally stunted and a slow kind of melancholy hangs over me. I hesitate to say depression, but a mild form does seem to linger.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://adamanglin.com
- Instagram: @adamanglinart
Image Credits
Photos of Adam by Kara Pearson