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

Caitlin, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

As a child, I always assumed I would be a professional artist. My earliest memories include a deep connection to art and a constant need to create. In addition to my innate aptitude for drawing and painting, I have always been keenly aware of being different. Even as a child, I understood the term “Artist” to be a catchall for odd, nonconformist, gay, eccentric, overly sensitive or deeply introverted people, and I always knew I fell into this category.

As an adult, I pursued many different career paths prior to going all in as a professional artist. I continued my art in tandem with all other jobs, hoping there would be a tipping point when it made sense logistically and financially to pursue my art. During the recent global pandemic, I realized there is never a perfect time, there is only time or there is not. So, I took the leap and reorganized my life to make living my dream a reality!

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I was born during a blizzard in a Yale University dorm room but first fell in love with art in the small town of Davidson, NC. In my youth, I had the privilege of studying under amazing female painters who encouraged an intuitive approach.

By my teens, my family had made our way across country with pauses in Kansas City and Portland, OR. As an adult, I continued wandering with stops in Austin, TX and NYC. Living in different regions of the United States exposed me to diverse cultural patterns and distinctions, as well as colorful subcultures. My art continues to be inspired by people and places and a desire to commemorate stories.

Prior to pursuing a professional art career, I was a janitor, HIV street outreach worker, singer in punk bands and a youth mentoring program manager. Eventually, I pursued a career in finance spanning over a decade, including providing research support at a 5th Avenue hedge fund and obtaining a CFP® certification amongst other designations and licenses.

My acrylic paintings are raw, emotionally-charged and often deeply biographical. They are informed by my personal struggle of feeling trapped in a stigmatized and oversexualized “female body” which at times does not feel like my own. With a surrealist approach, I explore the complex, confusing and sometimes conflicting aspects of the human experience found in one’s gender, sexuality and cultural identity. Through oversaturated colors, intricate patterns, areas of great detail and intentional distortion an alternate reality is created in which audiences are free to abandon restrictive belief systems in exchange for fearless exploration of the deepest and perhaps most neglected parts of their heads and hearts.

I am most proud of how viewers have connected with my art. My entire life I struggled with feelings of not “fitting in” and consequently, believing there was something wrong with me, which has resonated with my audience. The more I leaned into who I truly am, the greater security I felt in my own skin. The same has been true for my art. From an early age, I understood challenging art was not widely accepted the way more easily digestible art is in this country. My art celebrates the beautifully complicated aspects of people who defy stereotypes and redefine normality. For this reason, I am thrilled to have my art featured in mainstream museums and galleries nationwide, as well as held privately throughout the states and abroad.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

We, especially here in the United States, need to redefine how we think about Artists and our general support of the arts community. Artists deserve livable wages, access to healthcare and opportunities just like anyone else. We must distance ourselves, as a society, from the “starving artist” stereotype and instead accept the notion of compensating artists fairly as well as creating federal, state and local funded opportunities for them. Art helps communities in a multitude of ways from beautification to boosting tourism, creativity, tranquility and a sense of belonging just to name a few. We need to see art in our communities as a necessity and therefore, value and take care of creatives.

Institutions should be encouraged to support the arts through regular projects and commissions as well as providing opportunities specifically to emerging and underrecognized (BIPOC, female, LBGTQ, etc.) artists too. I applaud both the financial industry and art world for recent diversity efforts; however, more must be done to change outdated power structures that undervalue historically underrepresented groups.

Finally, I invite artists to embrace an abundance mindset and actively, support other artists. As artists, it is easy to operate from feelings of scarcity and to view our peers as competitors. We must actively dismantle this practice. When our fellow artists succeed it is beneficial for the entire art community. Therefore, artists should do everything in their power to uplift other artists because the success of others does not take away from their own.

Have you ever had to pivot?

Mid-flight to a finance conference in Baltimore, I was overcome by a feeling of panic and a realization that I had lost my sense of self and purpose. It was at this moment; I knew I needed to pursue my art professionally. The two years prior were spent endlessly preparing for my CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PROFESSIONAL™ exam designation and building a career in a new city. I had worked so hard only to feel that I had climbed the wrong mountain.

As I unwound the life I had built, I feared what friends, family and colleagues would think of my decision. I was touched by the outpour of support and people who confided similar feelings. My community reinforced my commitment to the arts and long-term, I hope to merge both my financial and creative skillsets by providing arts programming.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.ArtofCaitlinMorris.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/artofcaitlinmorris/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ArtofCaitlinMorris/