We were lucky to catch up with Alivia Moe recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alivia , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

Finding art as a path for a career began early and ultimately as a result of needing to find a way to cope. I feel as though I have always known I am an artist. From the time I understood the concept of identity, “artist” has always been a title I feel, see, experience, and receive myself as. My mother loves to pull out photographs of me at two in plastic heels, baby hairs up in clips painting at easels and on my parent’s carpet… LOL. In 2008 my father was diagnosed with stage four throat cancer. I was 11 years old, a very shy, neuro-spicy, anime-loving, quirky, 6th grader. While I had communities to lean on, every day at lunch and after school, I would return to the art room and create. I tried every medium, working in silence, diving into my own thoughts that felt scary and unfamiliar. It was during this time I had the privilege of beginning talk therapy. I realized creating is a form of therapy and this concept led me to a lot of clarity about myself and it allowed me to tap into self-autonomy early on. It was through this experience of coping through art making that I realized this is what I wanted to do – create. I didn’t know specifically what medium or path, but I knew this is where I fit.

Alivia , 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 an interdisciplinary creative – a designer, fine artist, published poet, the owner of VESL STUDIOS, and the host of THE GAAAP podcast.

I curate, design, make, and write with a background in art therapy practices, art education, and graphic design. I live a life as a creative professional that doesn’t strive to have one medium or one practice. I am trained as a fine artist, with a BFA from The School Of The Art Institute Of Chicago and my goal has always been to create a sustainable life interweaving my creative practices.

Everything I create whether through process or outcome is approached with design. Design is at the forefront of my professional life. I am a freelance designer for Pariah Magazine and have designed for coffee shops, vintage shops, musicians, and a variety of small businesses. My expertise is in branding, social media content, print, and editorial design.

I created VESL STUDIOS in 2020 after graduating from college on a mission to create as an extension of my fine art practice that was accessible, design-focused and community oriented. VESL STUDIOS is a design studio and concept store offering graphic design services, made to order, and one of one pieces; including stickers, pins, prints, ceramics, clothing, jewelry as well as private pottery classes and collaborations with artists all over the world. VESL STUDIOS aims to expose the interconnections between body and lifestyle through the importance of self-expression and care. Make an appointment to shop in store or have items shipped to you through our website.
@VESL.STUDIOS
www.aliviamoe.com

I had my first book published in 2022 called “Gradient”. I coin it a “Poetry novel” mimicking the structure of a novel with a linear story and broken up into chapters. In-between each chapter is a mix of short story, prose and structured poetry. You can read more about and purchase my book on my website! www.aliviamoe.com

The GAAAP Podcast is one of my newest editions aiming to connect with others on a human level outside of the boxes we are structured in and around with a center focus that we are all creatives, it is inherently human to be creative. Find the podcast on Patreon!

My fine art practice is understood as emotional waste; conscious and unconscious ways in which I process the push and pull of information I absorb through the direct and indirect experience. I find myself reaching for substance and thinking in stanzas.

Substance – material, both written and physical; paper, clay, paint, poetry etc.

Stanzas – fragments of what I’ve heard, said or read paralleled with imagery of the past, the present and the unknown.

My practice with substance and stanza reveal the gap between self and other which I explore visually in order to unlearn, relearn and redefine through distortion and manipulation of material.

Themes I explore include:

Bodies

Transparency

Autonomy

Abuse

Mental health awareness

STI awareness

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

You don’t have to work hard, you have to work smart. Working hard has always held a bad taste in my mouth and led to a lot of misconceptions about what I felt hard work was versus was hard work was defined and expected of me externally. We live in a culture that believes that working hard means not giving yourself breaks, not taking care of yourself emotionally and physically. Working hard means losing yourself in work and therefore attaching your worth to what you achieve. I am still learning to unlearn this toxic mindset that’s been shoved into my inner voices, especially as a creative. While hard work has proven to offer people “good lives” defined by the amount of money they make, I want more and choose to work smarter so I can live a successful life the way I define it not how others define it.

Have you ever had to pivot?

I live in a constant pivoting trajectory. And while I do feel certain aspects of my life that have “stuck” or settled into a sustainable life for myself, I will always be pivoting, and I believe that will benefit me as a human, creative, and business owner.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.aliviamoe.com
• Instagram: @aliviamoe.art , @vesl.studios , @thegaaap

Image Credits
Jillian Clark Michael Garcia Jackson Keys