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

Hi Jalen, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

I’ve always been creative and into anything that could be used as a way to express my creativity. Growing up I’ve always busied my time with creative projects and teachings to occupy my boredom. When I was a lot younger, I didn’t take art as seriously as I do now. It was more so me needing to doodle or sketch something really quickly to cure my boredom. However, I knew that art was always something that kept me more attentive and interested than any other fields of study. I feel I connect with art on a deep and ancestral level, and creating it just feels like an extension of that. I find beauty in art from all movements and styles and am fascinated with the idea of creating anything artistic as a whole. While going through a difficult time in life, being able to speak my truth through my art, subtly or explicitly, gave me a sense of relief. I can be angry. I can be sad. I can speak politically. I can self deprecate, but it was therapeutic for me, and the more I did, the better I felt. After a while, I got some recognition for it and grew a following. I got invited to more events, started building more confidence in experimenting with different art styles, and indulging more into my creative side. Creating a platform where I can show the public my work became something that got its wheels turning for itself, and as a creative, I simply embrace it.

Jalen, 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?

I’m Jalen Divad. I am a creative, but I don’t really like to get involved in the specifications of it all. My process is pretty simple; I like to create, and to do whatever interests me and comes to mind. I work with a lot of visual arts, poetry, and music. I like to express my thoughts, and I use my work to provide a medium to do so. I have a very abstract approach to my art and try to incorporate different inspirations and ideas in every piece that I do. I have been working as a creative all my life, however I’ve been working professionally and independently for two years now. In my youth, I’ve worked on social media projects, fashion design, and modeling. As I continue down my path I plan on exploring new avenues of creativity, and becoming more well rounded in everything related to artistic expression.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

Stay consistent and be fearless. Get out your own head. I feel that some content creators just want their audience to do the work for them, dictate what type of works they should do, and how they should do it. I think you should just do it. If it works then cool, if not then trust that you have the skill and knowledge to make it work for yourself in due time. If you consume yourself too heavy with the concerns of others, you’ll never truly be able to focus completely on what bring you genuine contentment. Just do what makes you happy. I grew my audience by doing what I love… feeling how I feel and putting it into my work. If it went through my head, it was expressed on a canvas, in a poem, in a song, or whatever artistic outlet I was using at the time. I did it frequently and consistently, and the longer I did it, the more my audience grew. Experiment and try new art forms and styles. Expand your knowledge, and be comfortable with being vulnerable in your work. Give your audience an authentic and unique presence.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

The freedom of being able to express yourself and your feelings. Everyone has an opinion and feels a way towards something, but there’s so much censorship and groupthink in the world today that it becomes hard to express those opinions in a universally accepted way. Art is up for interpretation, and I feel that it’s needed to understand and better interpret the world. Creating art allows for a deepened insight on what the artist knows or feels about whatever it is they’re creating. It could just as easily be something very surface level and simple. Nobody is wrong, nobody is right. People are free to believe what they want, and you have freedom in expressing what you want.

Contact Info:

• Website: jaydivad.com
• Instagram: hellodual