Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Elisheva Pierce. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Elisheva, appreciate you joining us today. Do you feel you or your work has ever been misunderstood or mischaracterized? If so, tell us the story and how/why it happened and if there are any interesting learnings or insights you took from the experience?

Hi, my name is Elisheva Pierce and I am an Atlanta-based Visionary Artist. Being misunderstood and mischaracterized is one of the biggest inspirations that has pushed me into becoming an artist today. I have always been this tall, artistic girl who stands out like a sore thumb, which has caused others to mischaracterize me. But instead of allowing that pain to affect me deeply, I’ve always created an artwork as a means to express my emotions and to escape the harsh reality of isolation. And I mean, I am this tall woman who has synesthesia and also a diagnosed ADHD chick – so not only do I look different, but my behavior is different. I have been referred to as a real-life cartoon character. Synesthesia is when the senses cross over. When I hear music, I also will see visuals and colors and I believe that my artistic abilities are a result of my synesthesia and ADHD. With me having a nervous system that operates in a different way from normal, I am easily seen as “weird” or “peculiar”. And I think that happens with anyone who is out of the ordinary. I love people, but I think that sometimes people tend to ostracize concepts and ideas that are different. I look at it as a blessing, because it has been the very thing that has pushed me as if being an artist is my destiny. In this lifelong journey as an artist, I have really learned to truly love and accept myself for who I am. Helping others see the beauty in themselves through artwork is also another huge motivation. It also allows me to express the pain of rejection and being misunderstood with art so that others who are similar, have something to relate with. I think that similar misunderstandings that happen to me sometimes happens with my art. I have a diverse background, so I paint my experiences of being a woman with a diverse background, and I aim to share these experiences with others so that things can improve for women of all kinds. In the visual art world – anatomy is just anatomy, and for me, the feminine is a representation of nature. I would like to help restore the purely beautiful view of femininity that is untainted. I also would like to break the mold that many women are told that we cannot do certain things. Women can be highly creative, women can be visual artists, women can be innovative, women can be powerful, women can be genius, and women can be leaders too.

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.

My name is Elisheva Pierce and I am a visionary artist. I have a series that I am actively working on called Arts Barbie where I am expressing the different experiences of women and I am finding my inspiration through living everyday life and having experiences with different people. I also commission artwork and portraits and I paint murals. One of my biggest goals is to paint murals around the city of Atlanta, then around the nation, and then finally around the world. Artistic expression is an important part of culture and humanity and I am here to deliver. I have been illustrating and painting since I was 5 years old, and I am a self-taught artist. I think what sets me apart from other artists, is my genuine passion for the arts. I am very hungry for artistic expression. Art is what I am made of, it’s not just a skill. I am a highly sensitive person who is moved enough to get visualizations that help me to create art that connects with other people. I am genuinely a natural-born creative, so my artwork is deep, from my heart, and authentic. What I am most proud of with being an artist, is the way art has allowed me to connect with other people. I have been able to help people see their own beauty, lift their esteem, and relate with others. I love people, but I am not the most verbally talkative person, so art has been my way of communicating and connecting with others. Art connects people from different cultures and backgrounds and I need to be a part of that movement.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.

I would like for non-creatives to know that we need each other. I like to use this analogy that my mom told me about being highly artistic. Think of a pan of lasagna – being a creative is like being the cheese, the sauce and all the tasty parts of the lasagna, and being a non-creative is like being the pan. Together we make up a delicious dish of lasagna that will be served to hungry people who need to eat. You can’t bake a lasagna without a pan, it will be completely sloppy and all over the place and you can’t bake just an empty pan. That’s no fun. We need each other. And also, when trying to replace artists with Ai, you’re literally killing people. It’s that deep, and it needs to be understood that it’s that deep. We creatives have no other way of being. Also, for the most part, we artists are highly sensitive people. When having to live amongst non-creatives, I’ve noticed that there is a misunderstanding about how we are. Some non-creatives try to force artists to be more normal or think in certain ways that come easily to non-creatives and I think remembering the lasagna concept will help non-creatives understand the importance of the artistic role. Please love who you are as a non-creative. If you’re a non-creative, please understand that you still have talent and that your talent is very important and vital and just as cool as being a creative. Please understand that, just as creatives are skilled with creativity, non-creatives are usually more skilled in other areas like business, logistics and other areas that society needs in order to thrive. We need each other. We are complementary to one another and we cannot have one without the other. Non-creatives and creatives bring balance to society. Both brain types are needed.

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

Hire artists. Please hire artistic people for creative projects. The passion and energy that a human artist puts into creating artwork is unmatched. For a lot of us, art is our only skill. For me personally, I have no other skills other than the arts. When I try to be normal and do normal things like uphold a normal job, I fail miserably because living life in a neurotypical way is not something that I do very well. It goes against my wiring. So many suffer from depression because of the way society tries to force artists to give and live normally. So many artists are either on drugs to cope or die at the hands of suicide due to this. Most artists are neurodivergent and we deserve the opportunities that support our neurodivergence rather than suppress it. Artists deserve to make a living as well. Society can definitely create opportunities for artists to make a living off of being an artist. Also, I often see art shows that cost the artist lots of money just to display their artwork and I don’t necessarily agree with this. I think it is taking advantage of the thirst that artists have. The proper culture of art is to patronize the artist so that we can continue to create artwork for people, which is a very important and vital aspect of human expression. Creating artwork is a very selfless act that takes a lot of time, patience, passion, and dedication. So artists deserve honor and respect. Artists should not have to pay money to display their work. To me, that is the same as making a musician pay to perform, a dancer pay to perform, or an actor pay to act in a movie. It is killing art, and it just doesn’t make sense. Artists deserve to be paid for sharing the beauty we create, just like artists in other art forms such as music, dance, and acting are paid, and society needs to view it that way.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.trapgirlart.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/artsbarbie
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/artsbarbie
• Other: www.patreon.com/artsbarbie