We recently connected with J Quinn and have shared our conversation below.
J, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?
From my first breath, I knew my purpose was to be an artist. It always existed as a deep knowing inside of me. There wasn’t an aha! moment. I just had an understanding of that part of myself. It was so authentic that I never doubted it. As often as I’ve been unsure of myself or my skills, I never questioned the need to create. I understood that urge better than I understood myself.
J, 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?
There are many layers to my story, but the main point is that I’ve always been an artist. I’ve known my entire life that I would need to create to find my way in this world. My artistry has taken various forms, but most potent when visual and verbal. After high school, I attended college to study graphic design. I ended up graduating but struggled mightily. I am Autistic, so school has never really been my thing. There were so many challenges that I had to overcome. My traditional art teachers told me that I wasn’t good. Looking back now, I was just different, and with anything different, it tends to make people uncomfortable. I couldn’t catch on at a “regular” job after that. I’ve done many things from being a service worker to managing social media accounts. Before the pandemic hit, I was going to burn out. I could feel myself falling off a cliff trying to keep up with life. As devastating as the pandemic has been, it allowed me the space I needed to get right within myself. I began creating at a furious pace. I had the time and mental capacity to fully immerse myself in art and develop my technique. The art world was changing too. Digital art was becoming mainstream. My work started to garner more attention than it ever had before. I was excluded prior because my art was digital and not traditional. This switch changed my life and put me on my current path.
If I’m being honest, I didn’t think I would live this long. I didn’t expect to be here past the age of 23. Now I’m thriving after a long journey. I’ve struggled with mental health, disability, and PTSD for as long as I can remember. I’ve had to work really hard to get to a place where I am just ok and can see my worth. I spent years not wanting to live or be in my body. I was very unkind to myself because I didn’t have the knowledge, capacity, or dialogue to define what was going on internally. It took me many years to wrap my head around it and accept myself without shame. I also didn’t have access to health care, so it was a full-time job trying to find the help I needed. I got turned down many times because I was deemed “unfixable” or “too far gone.” I’ve climbed out of so many dark holes. It’s honestly astounding that I am still here and back to chasing my dreams.
My art is mainly based on my synesthesia. Being a synesthete, I see sounds, voices, and feelings as color. I use my synesthesia like a colorful compass to help me navigate the outside world and my emotions internally. I explore various themes like disability, mental health, climate change, and trauma throughout my work. Being Autistic, I have major sensory issues. This leads to aversions to texture and touch. I can’t use paint or brushes like a traditional artist because the texture and feel are too irritating. This has led me to develop my own technique where I create art digitally on an iPad or on the copper from the bottoms of old pots and pans. I’ve recently started incorporating A.I. into my work as well. It’s allowed me to dive deeper into my creative spirit and express myself in ways I did not have access to before because of my disability.
Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?
Yes! The mission driving my creative journey is to help the art world understand neurodivergence and disability. I want to spread awareness and education about how the traditional art industry can change and be more accessible. In my journey, there have been many instances where I’ve been turned away as soon as a gallery or gatekeeper finds out I’m disabled. I’ve been told to start an Etsy account or to seek help from a charity. No matter how good the art is, as soon as neurodivergence or disability is mentioned, I’m turned away. I could give you a list of people and organizations that have done this, but I’m not that petty. However, I refuse to accept it. It’s not right. All marginalized groups and genders deserve access to display their gifts and beautiful minds. How many world-changing creators have we missed out on because of these practices? I think about it every day. It needs to change.
Alright – so here’s a fun one. What do you think about NFTs?
NFTs have changed my life, so I have a very positive view of them. I do understand the doubt and hesitancy surrounding the entire process though. For me, NFTs have provided the accessibility the traditional art world lacks. I am a part of the ARTXV global collective. It’s the first collective for neurodivergent artists in the NFT space. It was founded by sisters Ava and Tara Halvai after Tara’s work was dismissed by the traditional art world when they realized Tara was autistic. Sounds familiar, right? Since forming the collective, we have worked with and been featured in Google Arts & Culture, Forbes, NFT NYC, NFT London, ETHDenver, and TED amongst others. My work has been shown in Times Square and I was named one of Dua Lipa’s top five neurodivergent artists to follow. None of that would have been possible without the technology of NFTs.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.artxv.org/
- Instagram: @jtothequinn
- Twitter: @jtothequinn