We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Gia Cope a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Gia , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. One of the toughest things about progressing in your creative career is that there are almost always unexpected problems that come up – problems that you often can’t read about in advance, can’t prepare for, etc. Have you had such and experience and if so, can you tell us the story of one of those unexpected problems you’ve encountered?

The most unexpected conflict I have ever faced regarding my creative journey has always been with myself. I have been my own worst critic since the jump, and that prevented me from being at my full potential. I suppose I could say it stemmed from my childhood, or the emotions I felt during my adolescence that made me doubt my efforts. That feeling of not being good enough, or the crippling suspicion that I’m just not that good in the first place. Though, the more I evolved I could notice my perception shifting in a different direction. I had to come face to face with the understanding that doubt is a wonderful thing. Feeling defeated all the time, left me wanting to prove myself more, not for the sake of others but for the sake of not losing my creative identity anymore. I’ve lost myself thousands of times, and each time that I have fallen beneath, I learned a trick or two to come back twice as hard as before.

Gia , 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?

My name is Gia, and I was born in November of 1998, in Magnitogorsk, Russia. Soon after my birth, I was placed in an orphanage for about two years, before I was adopted by my two adoptive fathers from America in 2000. My adoptive father Brian, came to visit me on my birthday with his mother and had an instant connection with me. My first day in America was on March 08, 2001, when my family lived in the Montrose area of Houston, Texas. An area rich in arts and culture, I feel that was my first introduction to the art world.

Photography was the first art form that I gravitated toward aside from painting during my youth, from playing with cameras as a child to owning my first camera. I have always felt a sense of comfort and belonging within the photography community, which I am grateful for because it enabled me to find a sense of identity where identity lacked. Coming from certain circumstances that left me alone and disconnected, I gained a lot more than I could have ever anticipated, and I just obtained this clarity at almost twenty-four years old. It was not a given, and I always struggled socially with fitting in and belonging to a group. Aside from my adoptive family, the art world was where I could let my guard down and visually express feelings I could never verbally project.

Following photography, where I discovered my potential, I fell into curating art shows. My experience in photography gave me insight into how I wanted to view and present art. It is a medium in and of itself, and curating others’ art to create an overall piece and show scratched the itch of doing it myself. I have had two art shows this year, with fantastic outcomes that left me wanting to continue to provide an atmosphere within the art community where artists like myself, are given the opportunity to showcase their work with the same standards I hold my art to.

I feel like I am most proud of being one of the only people in Houston providing a shift in the right direction for the city’s art community. Houston isn’t known for its art scene, and when it has been, people have been known to abuse their power and or negatively affect the scene as a whole. Being one of many artists who have been taken for granted, manipulated, and shorted, I’ve made artists feeling safe a priority of mine. Secondly, I have believed in them the way I wanted to be believed in, and with that, they believe in me. It’s a remarkable feeling, and I am looking forward to my third upcoming show that is in the works as of right now. The theme will be artists’ take on brands. Whatever brand it may be, we hold no limit to what they can create, and it is such a broad spectrum so I am very excited to witness the artists whom I have selected showcase their talents once again. Each artist will be able to dive into their experiences and opinions with name brands and visually concoct their perspective of the capitalistic society we live in, in a personalized unique way.

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

In my opinion, all the art world needs to thrive is support from inside and outside sources. Artists don’t need to be in such competition with one another. The world itself is already a race to the top for the majority, and that leaves a lot of really talented and worthy artists in the dark. It’s always been a form of expression, and shouldn’t be used loosely as a tool to get to the top, to feel relevant, or make quick money in such a short amount of time. I feel the most poisonous, voracious act individuals have done within the era of social media -that doesn’t get discussed quite enough- has been creating highly mediocre, fastly produced, disingenuous work to climb a social ladder that constantly transforms and continues to extend. It’s a race toward instant gratification. In my opinion, I have always connected with a piece when I could tell it wasn’t rushed, and when you can accept that not everyone will understand the work the way you see it, and that’s what I look for. One of my greatest inspirations in film is Andrei Tarkovsky, a Soviet Russian film director who once stated “If you try to please audiences, uncritically accepting their tastes, it can only mean that you have no respect for them: that you simply want to collect their money.”

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being an artist and a creative is inspiring others to keep creating and to take pride in the work they’ve created. Art is therapy to many, including myself, and knows no limits in media or what art means to a person. Once you put a cage around something that belongs to everyone, it dims what is meant to illuminate and shrinks what is supposed to be flexible. Hypothetically, I could make as much money as imaginable, but regardless of monetary return, I wouldn’t feel satisfied spiritually, which I’m convinced is the soul of art. I want to notice a change in our society. I’ve been present for a handful of revolutionary changes throughout my life, to major setbacks, and constant indecisiveness within the world. Now, our days feel more uncertain than ever, almost like a gamble. Providing creatives with a platform to feel appreciated, and to feel seen leaves me elated and fulfilled. We have to show gratitude to the creative community for what they have given us and continue to give. Our eyes, our ears, our hands, the swamp that is our mind. Mental, emotional, sound, and visual stimulation keep us using our senses. We don’t have to take these for granted.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.bygiacope.com
• Instagram: gia.cope
• Twitter: gia_cope