We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Bad Talents. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Bad below.

Bad, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Do you wish you had waited to pursue your creative career or do you wish you had started sooner?

My creative career started with an unconventional, winding path that had me feeling like a late bloomer for many years. After graduating from college, I stopped making artwork entirely for nearly 4 years. Unlike most of my peers and friends at the time, I graduated without a job lined up nor any real idea as to what I wanted to do with my life. I also struggled with untreated clinical depression, coupled with the shame and anxiety of not having my life together when everyone around me seemed to be advancing in their careers from the get-go. This led to a sort of emotional paralysis, and I found myself working in minimum-wage retail jobs for 3+ years, despite having a degree from a top university.

Eventually, with the help of a therapist, I got treatment for my depression, began taking care of my mind and body, and put one foot in front of the other (baby steps!) in terms of my career. Once I started taking care of myself and my emotional wellbeing, I was able to increase my sense of self-worth, which ultimately enabled me to start making art again. Your self-worth is your ceiling, so when it’s low, it limits just about everything you do. But when you work to increase your self-worth, the world starts to feel a little bit more benevolent in return—like you really can do just about anything.

My creative career had a snowball effect after this turning point; with my newfound self-worth and confidence, I believed in my talent as an artist and funneled all of my energy into that, and it eventually paid off—just a little bit later than my peers.

Ultimately, of course I wish that I had been able to start my creative career sooner, but I know that my story wouldn’t be mine if it were straightforward and conventional. Luckily one of the great things about the arts is that it’s never too late to start.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I’m a Los Angeles-based fine artist & designer that operates under the pseudonym of Bad Talents®. My mixed-media art practice combines graphite portrait drawings with textile backgrounds, and, conceptually, aims to articulate the tension between the modern experience of beauty, fashion, and consumption, and the long-term environmental impacts of the clothing we wear. You can find my artwork in museums and galleries across the US. In addition to my art practice as Bad Talents, I am a senior art director for Barbie at Mattel, where I get to live out my pink-tinted childhood dreams as an adult. 🎀 💖

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

It all starts with childhood! As individuals, we need to nurture creativity in children—give them room to play, imagine, and explore, and actively push back against limiting (and often gender-based) social constructs that narrow the world of possibility for kids instead of opening it up. As a society, we need to fund and prioritize art and music programs in public schools. We need to support teens that want to pursue liberal arts degrees, instead of instilling fear that those degrees won’t lead to jobs. As employers, we need to hire those with unconventional backgrounds and incentivize creativity in the workplace. Art & creativity is at the core of nearly every product on every shelf and every service provided in our economy, and we need to start valuing creatives as much as we value those who manage spreadsheets and numbers.

Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

I just finished The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron, which is a workbook that helps artists regain self-confidence through a 12-week self-guided program. To call it life-changing is an understatement! Had I read it in my younger years instead of letting it collect dust, unopened on my bookshelf, I imagine I’d be a lot further ahead today. Now it’s the first resource I recommend to all creatives, no matter what stage of life or career they’re in.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.badtalents.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bad_talents
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shelbyalexander1/
• Other: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@bad_talents

Image Credits

Gallery Exhibition Images: LorealMade