Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Grace Millard. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hi Grace, thanks for joining us today. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?
The simplest answer is I’m obsessed with learning. It makes my brain buzz to feel a new movement, watch a process take form from idea to fullness. I think this is essential to any creative practice. Even thru artist blocks, I still feel a pull to absorb certain imagery–sights, sounds, places–that fill me up until I come back to my work.
I can’t deny that I wouldn’t be where I am today without access to the working artists and high quality facilities at College for Creative Studies in Detroit. With art school you are paying to learn traditional techniques and new tools, but you are also being taught how to network. This speeds up the learning process and gives you the fancy letters B, F, and A to add to your résumé.
I don’t think art school is right for everyone! A big obstacle for most artists is finances and time, but no matter your medium or practice, every creative needs to learn the tools of the trade as well as how to be in community with other artists.
Grace, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I am an illustrator working in the automotive industry as a 3d Technical Artist. All of my work–personal and corporate–is based in storytelling. In Car World, this means understanding how people will interact with technology, what will make them feel surprise and joy, even in traffic.
I started as a UI/UX Production Designer, quality controlling graphics for vehicle touch screens. From there, I was asked to learn 3d modeling and game coding software for a pilot project that would eventually become the basis for the offroad application in the EV Hummer. I believe being paid to learn on the job was one of the best things an employer has ever done for me.
While working behind the scenes on these user interfaces, I was inspired by the chit-chatter between human and machine. I often feel unable to connect to other people, behind glass, interpreting meaning from gesture and glances. Watching my little computers reach out for information over and over, I felt a strange sisterhood. I began using pseudo-code to write my comic Personal Space, finding my own alien language to heal from past traumas. I’m proud of my ability to combine two disparate worlds to create work that resonates with others.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
Witnessing how my work, initially intended to mend myself, has the power to positively impact others. Knowing that someone has related to my poems, or has chosen to display my artwork in their space, fills my heart with so much warmth.
What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?
I think there are so many ways to support our community–buying art, hiring local creators, sharing posts online–to name a few. I also think there is a lot of gatekeeping in the art world that keeps us from truly creating an ecosystem that is sustainable. Share your process! Release the scarcity mindset! In a landscape that is full of drop-shipped, sterile designs, I want us to choose handmade, local, thoughtful. Our communities deserve art for its beauty and therapeutic nature–we don’t need to subscribe to hyper capitalist ideals of profit over people. I wouldn’t have the career I have today without my community uplifting me and sharing resources, so I hope to do that for other young artists whenever I can.
Contact Info:
- Website: gracemillard.com
- Instagram: @grmllrd
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/grmllrd/
Image Credits
Personal Photo: Kirby Shoote