Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Coco Paylor. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Coco, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s talk legacy – what sort of legacy do you hope to build?
The type of legacy I hope to build is one of resilience and community. I would want people to remember me as someone who took risks, no matter how silly it looked or difficult it seemed. I try not to fantasize about what life will be like for others when I’m gone cause that bums me out. Haha! If I had to think about it though, hopefully a reliable friend and community member.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
Since an early age, I’ve always been fascinated by anime and its complicated, yet familiar, adult themes. Through this introduction, I adopted adding my own style to communicate, using mostly acrylic and oil pastel mediums. My art gears towards relating to human experiences using a textured art style. As an illustrator, I want to capture real world themes, translating it through vivid colors and nostalgia.
What would set me apart from most artists probably wouldn’t be just my art, but what I do outside of it: I’m a full-time IT professional, who also skateboards, and help curate art centered events through EXPO (a collaborative project me and a friend started to prioritize POC who are queer and nonbinary folks in the DMV, building community to network and highlight local artists). Even though I have a full plate, I always make time to paint, because it’s a stress reliever and a part of my identity. I’ve been drawing since I could write, painting since 2013, an IT Professional for 8 years, and skateboarding since 2019. It’s safe to say I put in a lot of time about things I’m passionate about. Haha! Because of this, the clients I choose to work with know how valuable my time is and with my real world experience, bringing a different approach to my work.
What I’m most proud of is being able to put myself out there artistically and being able to see the benefits of my audacity. I was very shy, and awkward, growing up, so being able to show my work in galleries and get my ideas out there has been a blessing. Also, having the resources to help others get their ideas out there as well feels pretty cool. I know little me would be so proud and that genuinely makes me happy.
As a Black artist, creating is not only a privilege, but a form of protest. I want people to see my work and feel seen and heard. I want people to feel anxious and uneasy; I want people to feel something. It’s cool to know that I’m growing and learning through my clients and having them push my boundaries and bounce ideas is one of the greatest and coolest rewards as an artist.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
A story of resilience for me would be losing my mom 3 days before we went into covid lockdown. My grieving period was unlike any other I’ve experienced before: grieving a parent, grieving “normalcy”, learning to readjust. I had to find a different kind of strength to keep going while being in isolation; being unable to grieve with family and friends put a real damper on my mental and emotional health. My mom was my biggest supporter. When it came to my art, she always wanted to share it with others, especially on Facebook. Haha! Having her unexpectedly pass was devastating. But using the strength and love my mom gifted me, I knew I had to keep going. Being home, forced me to revisit art in a different way. Not for consumption, but for healing. The more I created, the closer I felt to my mom. Through my grief, I was able to experiment with different mediums and ideas. One of the ideas even helped me get accepted into an group art exhibit at Heath Gallery in Harlem, New York. I felt so proud and it felt like a win not only for me, but for my mommy as well. It felt like I was able to prove to her, and myself, that I’ll be just fine.
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
A lesson I had to unlearn was that there’s no perfect path to take becoming a professional artist. Some people go to school, some people were blessed to be born with wealthy resources, either way, neither of these things guarantee success. You have to really trust the process and be open to change.
With my journey, especially early on, I thought I had to go to school, draw everyday, and make myself as visible as possible. These things can help, but for me personally, it burned me out to the point I had to take a 4 year break from drawing. I would get discouraged and frustrated with my progress and put a lot of expectation on myself. When I decided to start back drawing it was out of a place of curiosity and wanting to learn, not be recognized for my talents. Being patient with my progress, and trusting the process has brought me more success than I could have imagined.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://paylorcolletta.wixsite.com/cocoanne
- Instagram: Cocoannepuffs
Image Credits
Tina Carzon