We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Exiled Royal a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Exiled thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Has your work ever been misunderstood or mischaracterized?
One of the most visceral, yet memorable, fears of mine growing up, related to simply existing within the same vicinity as others. That fear was not exclusive to physical space and spoken words, it migrated to breathing patterns, hand movements, walking, eating, blinking in front of those around me. Despite deeply craving closeness and friendship, the prospect of speaking to anyone outside of my immediate family felt next to impossible and prompted a painful separateness that served as a ripe opportunity for misunderstandings and mischaracterizations. Without fully understanding the extent of my mental health challenges or how to approach the biting, at times explosive, emotions inside of me just yet, that separateness reached a peak during the earlier years of high school. During this period, I made a habit out of hiding away from hurtful words in bathroom stalls and could go days without speaking to anyone at all. Coming home each afternoon, I watched the separateness, heavy hopelessness, and fear bleed much too easily into feelings of rage towards myself and those around me. As such, I was considered “passive” and perpetually “quiet” at school, yet lingered more towards someone who could be described as “unpredictably and senselessly angry” at home. For a long time, whether it was through the looking glass self or some sort of strange osmosis, these experiences seemed to prompt me to truly believe that I was inherently voiceless, volatile, and incapable of connecting with others.
Art has, ultimately, encouraged me to practice refuting the acceptance of perpetual states of being such as these, by recognizing each piece as simply reflective of a point in time and, in turn, each emotion as simply a point in time. Doing so, allows me to minimize the repetition of old patterns consisting of alternating heavily between conceptualizing myself as some heinous monster worthy of retribution and someone whose pain granted them with a permit for destruction and harm – neither of which I have found helpful to constructing a relationship with myself or others. What I love about creating stories, paintings, and art pieces, is that I, oftentimes, get to practice observing memories and the full extent of my emotions without judgement. If retribution or celebration are a part of the process they remain distilled in the piece I’ve created, a blank canvas never failing to present a warm welcome to the next emotion, thought, or memory it encounters. Each experience, each thought, each character, distilled for a short period, but fully capable of growing and evolving beyond that point at a later time, perhaps a later piece. One of the most valuable gifts the creative world has granted me with, has been a medium to connect my internal experience with the external world in a way I would have never imagined possible. It serves as the most authentic thread of communication I have accessible to me and, ultimately, an self-determined identity, a voice that can feel shaky at times, but irrefutably present and valued by myself and the loving, creative communities I have had the privilege of surrounding myself with.
Exiled, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
Hello Canvas Rebel readers! My artist pseudonym is Exiled Royal, or The Exiled Monarch. It’s a name I chose for myself as a means of referencing some of the isolation/ loneliness I mentioned previously, alongside a recognition of the inherent worth and dignity present within myself and each being. A bit about myself: I am a U.S. based visual artist in their late twenties, who enjoys composing alternate realities and carefully curated reflections of memories, thoughts, and feelings through writing, watercolor, graphite, and other mediums. The work I enjoy making most, often relates to mental health, relationships, and social issues, presented through the use of elements from some of my favorite artistic styles (e.g.: surrealism) and literary genres (e.g.: fantasy, science fiction, etc.).
Many of the treasured experiences I have had as an artist are directly attributable to the beautiful and inspiring communities of creatives I have met within New Jersey’s Hudson County art scene and through group exhibitions hosted throughout NYC. Having artwork displayed at the American Hungarian Foundation as a part of the Windows of Understanding Project and partaking in Rhode Island’s Art Battle, are a few additional experiences that have allowed me to challenge myself to engage with art in a different way, an experience that is always considered valuable to me personally. I am very much an artist who enjoys challenges and finding new ways to improve and engage with art.
-how you got into your industry / business / discipline / craft etc, what type of products/services/creative works you provide?
My dad was actually the first person I noticed immersing themself in art so frequently. As a child, I observed him writing poetry, drawing and listening to music from artists across musical genres (e.g.: Scorpions, Alain Barrière, Amy Winehouse, etc). Around the same time, I took my first community art class at our local recreation center and remember almost crying when I saw a picture I drew of Spongebob at the community art show. I still smile thinking about that memory. I don’t often attribute it to being the first art show I was involved in, but maybe I should.
Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?
Movies, TV shows, music, and books have a huge influence on the art I create, as well as the philosophy I try to approach my artwork with. The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is a film I recently had the opportunity to rewatch. I’m always blown away by the intricate retelling of memories central to the relationship between Joel and Clementine. Although not exactly relating to any sort of management/ entrepreneurial thought process as requested within the question, it did serve as a foundation for a piece of mine called “The Fractured Memories of Kaleidoscopes”. This piece seeks to emulate a memory and relationship, whose warmth has intermingled with pain over time, as depicted by the destruction of buildings contrasting a dreamy, yet altered, depiction of the Starry Night by Van Gogh – a painting of immense significance to me and the relationship this piece sought to reference.
Another movie that comes to mind would be Little Miss Sunshine. Years after first watching that film, I still revisit it’s storytelling and symbolism, the score by DeVotchKa, and video essays on the film whenever I need a bit of a refresher on the valuable lessons it intertwines into the story, on humanity, hope, resilience, and acceptance. It’s a film that encourages me to try approaching the messiness and imperfections of life with a bit more empathy.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
Perhaps closely related to my previous answer, unraveling the myth of idealized perfection has been something I am continuing to unlearn and recognize for what it is, a fear of failure and inadequacy. The belief that I was simply not talented or smart enough to create and share artwork publicly is a belief that prevented me from sharing what I’ve made for a long time. After being involved in my first group exhibition about two years ago, I found that the opposite was true. The art world shouldn’t be an exclusive club only accessible to certain people. We all have something to offer. Whether it’s through our description of a beautiful flower we’ve come across, a painting we’ve created, or a new tune we’ve found while humming, we are all constantly engaging with art on a daily basis. Similar to the themes presented in Little Miss Sunshine, I have found that when I push myself to move beyond the stringent classifications society has created to define winners and losers, without tolerance for anything in between, I find myself able to breath a bit easier and create more freely and authentically.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @exiled_royal