Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Chrilz. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hi Chrilz, thanks for joining us today. It’s easy to look at a business or industry as an outsider and assume it’s super profitable – but we’ve seen over and over again in our conversation with folks that most industries have factors that make profitability a challenge. What’s biggest challenge to profitability in your industry?
A career in visual art is naturally very feast-and-famine—it naturally oscillates between both extremes. Some seasons will tend to be more fruitful than others with sales, and others will be incredibly lean, often spanning several months and possibly even years before the next sizable return arrives. For work like mine that is specifically created to be exhibited, viewed, and purchased for private or public collections, one sort of business structure revolves around an exhibition schedule. In this case, an artist will receive an opportunity from a gallery to exhibit in several months time. During the intervening period, the artist will sometimes prepare and organize existing pieces for the show, but will more likely be expected to produce new work. A financial stipend is sometimes provided, but oftentimes the artist must rely upon his or her present means. Once the show occurs, an artist’s coffers are ideally replenished through sales, but this is never guarantee. To the contrary, this is part of what makes profitability so difficult at times—there is never certitude that the effort expended will amount to net income. Thankfully, independent sales between an artist and his or her collectors is one means of spreading the gap, but connecting with art buyers is in and of itself no simply task—I would argue it’s near impossible without Providential intervention, truly. What often becomes the case is visual artists maintaining small side hustles or side projects to keep their heads above water financially when sales or opportunities to exhibit are most scarce. My journey resembles this, and it is often a lean and uncertain walk month after month until the next sale arises. It is for this reason that I must operate on faith and trust if I ever hope to stay the course. April 2025 marks 8 years that I’ve been pursuing this career, and it’s only thanks to my meager efforts in surrendering all I have and all I do to the loving care of Our Father in Heaven.
Chrilz, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
My name is Chrilz, and I’m a contemporary figurative artist working in a blend between the Neo-figurative and Neo-expressionist visual languages of art. The human form is my primary vessel of expression, and I work in a very intentional manner that focuses on a two-fold diametric concerning both ideas and emotions. Through a rigorous aggregation of conscious choices, each artwork is a dance between the emotional and conceptual, ultimately seeking to envelop a viewer in this embrace, and thus begetting a deeply moving, personal experience. I tend to work in many layers, and connections are woven across pieces, series, and bodies of work in my entire artistic oeuvre. For this reason, I often describe each piece as a narrative tapestry that I hope can resonate with individuals across the human experience. Storytelling lays at the heart of my practice with human nature as the core theme—our emotions, our relationships, our experiences. Whether it is a complete concept or the subtlety of a gentle emotion, I am constantly concerned with sharing the beautiful truths of this life. I work primarily in colored pencil and graphite but often employ different paper to create different tactile results. What’s most important is that even my choices of medium—the hues, the paper, the dimensions, etc.—are all consciously determined so as to remain authentic to the final work itself.
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
Being an artist is not something I do out of novelty, nor even because it happens to be well-developed skill I possess. Rather, this is a path I walk because I believe it has been given to me as my life’s mission. There is an insatiable delight when I see a final work of art through to completion. It is often very tiring and requires a great deal of concentration spanning countless hours, days, weeks, and even months at times. This path is fraught with financial instability and stress. But creating a piece of art with sincerity—knowing I have done everything in my power to stay true to the vision that was given to me—is the most fulfilling thing I have ever experienced, which only seems to help my faith that this is indeed what God has asked of me. With that in mind, my mission is simply to stay the course from now until my dying breath in a manner that is honest and authentic so as to bring as much glory to God as possible.
Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?
I often battle with insecurities, particularly due to how unconventional my work is in comparison to those who partake of more typical jobs, so to speak. There are many stigmas in our society surrounding artists, and these have been very disruptive to my mindset at several points. I continue to grow into a healthier place of valuing what I do in the context of greater society because oftentimes I feel as though I should work harder than everyone else simply because I am so deeply in love with what I do. This quickly becomes problematic, however, and unsurprisingly leads to severe overworking habits, which are both unnecessary and unhealthy. As well, I regularly struggle with feeling as though my success is measured in dollars, and it has only been within the past year that I have made headway in not feeling as though I have failed simply because my expenses didn’t match my income for a particular month. I share this because I hope non-creatives might be able to sympathize a bit and remember to encourage anyone you may know who is earnestly and honestly pursuing this sort of journey. It is incredibly precarious and, arguably, more work than the typical salary career—at times it feels as though I have to work two or three times harder than my peers simply to make ends meet. If you know someone who is an artist, please never hesitate to send them an encouraging word or take a real interest in a particular piece that strikes you. If you have the means, I highly endorse purchasing an original directly from the artist, and never forget how much even a little support can lift up a struggling creative. Typically artist will have alternative ways that viewers can support their practices, such as through publications or community platforms, so seek out those means of investing in an artist’s career if the price of his or her work isn’t something within your budget. Art is critical for human flourishing, but please don’t forget that it must be supported by those not producing it or we will quickly lose this cultural treasure.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.chrilz.com
- Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/chrilzart
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ChrilzArt
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@chrilz1498
- Other: Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/chrilz
Substack Newsletter: https://substack.com/@chrilzart
Image Credits
All photos courtesy of the artist.