We were lucky to catch up with Essence Quigley recently and have shared our conversation below.
Essence, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.
Putting yourself out there in the creative field is all a risk. My entire journey in this field over the past four years has been trial and error, and failing constantly. However, through that failure, I’ve learned so much about business in the art field and creating content on YouTube. YouTube has probably caused me the most turmoil. I went into it expecting to gain an audience relatively quickly as I saw others do it and felt like I knew what direction I wanted to go in. Yet, it took two years to get what I thought would take a few months or a year at most. Through that time, I felt like there were so many signs that I shouldn’t keep going. Certain videos my audience didn’t seem interested in, I was making pretty good content but the algorithm wasn’t picking it up, and I was stuck at relatively the same place in my growth for a year in a half. There were so many moments I broke down and thought about quitting but I really felt I was called to do this. I think I really needed that time to understand what content worked best for me. I originally wanted to create a gaming channel but along the way, I realized my real passion was in socio-political commentary. Only when I slowed down and took my time on creating pieces that spoke to me and my audience was I able to reach my goal of being monetized. Now, looking back I wouldn’t change anything.
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?
Hey! I’m Awkwardchoco or you can call me Essence. I started creating art at a really young age. Even back then, I had a knack for creating stories to immerse myself in. It was a way I could escape from reality into something greater than myself. I would stack up journals full of doodles and when my sister and I played dolls, we would create an entire alternate universe full of reoccurring characters who came to life when we picked them up. I eventually went to an art school for middle and high school, and I was able to greatly improve my skills, learning about things I would’ve never been exposed to. That’s how I developed my love for oil painting, art history, or just the simple line. Every inch of art has something amazing to explore. Honestly, that’s the only reason I appreciate going there. Without that, I probably wouldn’t have chosen art as a career but other than that, I hated school – it was the absolute worst. Now, I create YouTube content, sell art pieces, and other artistic commodities like stickers, mugs, socks – you name it! Through all of my work, not only can you see the passion but a different way of viewing the world. My art puts a mirror up to everything you’ve ever known and shows you the truth of it. It’s not just a flat, beautiful piece but has something deeper hidden within it. It could be a different twist on Renaissance art or a unique style, that’s what my art is all about.
What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?
I think if we look towards the future of being an artist especially online, a big issue will be AI and companies looking to exploit artists. We already see it happening in the film industry. One of the big asks from SAG-AFTRA & WGA is that their likeness isn’t stolen without their consent or sold to these big companies. So it’s becoming apparently clear that one of the biggest challenges for all creatives in any field is going to be the stealing of their work in a more digital sense. AI is already taking other’s works without their consent and profiting off of it. If we want to as a society support artists and creatives, we need to honor their labor, give them proper credit, and not support companies that are looking to exploit that labor.
Can you share your view on NFTs? (Note: this is for education/entertainment purposes only, readers should not construe this as advice)
NFTs and AI art are this movement to make art into nothing other than capital. It has no heart and soul. Art has been used as a status of wealth for centuries which already kind of degrades the meaning of art. But at least, the artists themselves were creating for art’s sake and then collectors just took this more capitalistic approach. NFTs are both parties participating in the latter. NFTs also are closely tied to cryptocurrency which is unregulated and has a long history of scamming individuals out of thousands of dollars. With the rise of crypto casinos and online gambling, it’s exploiting the consumer to spend as much as possible in the comfort of their home. It’s very dangerous. Art is supposed to be bigger than a get-rich-quick scheme and the rise of NFTs only further devalues the meaning of art.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.awkwardchoco.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_awkward_choco_/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoH2df8j-LWMP8obhvPfJ_g