We were lucky to catch up with Jamal Hussain recently and have shared our conversation below.

Jamal, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

There was no epiphany. It was a decision that took much longer to formulate than one might suspect. I settled on the decision after years of many thoughts, experiences, mental anguish, moments of true happiness, trials, and tribulations. After ignoring the voice in my head that was, at once, so loud and vocal. It was answering the calling that you might not hear or see, but you feel. If there was one moment that can point to the start, it was when this inner voice slowly started to fade, I knew I was at a crossroads. I began to think about the time we have here and what we will do with that gift. I believe all of us have a purpose and though it is revealed to us in different ways, the journey to figure this out was worth taking. For me, it was remembering and reconnecting with memories as a child when I practiced imagination in its purest form. I wondered if I could do this again after 15 years of co-founding and managing a corporate business.

The start to answer these questions came with hundreds of days of harrowing self-questioning and internal soul-searching. I was constantly reading, watching documentaries, researching guided techniques, and most importantly, spending time in nature. Building a strong relationship with the land, and my environment and reconnecting to the earth was the first step in my journey. A key moment was discovering my Ikigai which is a Japanese concept of discovering your purpose through exploring the intersection of what you love, what you’re good at, what the world needs, and what you can be paid for. I took a structured approach to identifying my purpose and working my way towards the goal of leading a meaningful life. I landed at my intersection of art, earth, and technology. While living in Miami, leading up to my first creative New Media installation, I ventured out of my comfort zone and put myself in places that were showcasing innovative forms of immersive experiences that were so radically different than what I had seen. I knew that I was here to make a difference. It became a mission to create artwork using technology as a way to start the conversations around changing our behaviors toward living in a sustainable future for our home planet.

Jamal, 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! I am Jamal Hussain. I am currently living in Austin, TX but I grew up in Miami, FL. I am a New Media Artist working in the ethos of Environmentalism. My awe of Earth is the light that guides my creative endeavors. My immersive media installations explore the human story and its impacts on the health of the earth. The aesthetic foundation of my work involves capturing the unique visual patterns, sequences, and movements visible within nature. I then use mapping software and laser projectors to harness the power of light; communicating my messages on non-traditional surfaces. At 21, I co-founded a technology company in Miami, FL, and spent the next 15 years building a business with over 50 employees. After spending much time self-exploring and studying the problems we, as a humanity, are facing, I choose to follow a new path in taking steps to become a New Media artist. My choice to create artwork was less of a business discussion and more based on a personal responsibility I feel I must do as a collective member of society.

I deeply care about our home planet and how it provides us with life, breath, and abundance. After reconnecting with Earth, I feel my purpose is to create artwork that shines a light on the core issues that are leading to global climate change which is in turn, affecting millions of us. I create media installations with much intention for galleries, museums, festivals, events, and private and non-profit organizations. I create these installations and digital sculptures using projectors and tech artifacts such as TVs, monitors, and tablets. I use innovative software to create digital paintings as the main subject of my works. My works are often interactive and multi-sensory. They always have a positive and meaningful message about our role in our environment.

For past clients, my work has been a way to spark conversations around thought-provoking environmental topics. As well as a way for guests to pause and reflect on the many beautiful reflections of the earth. Some of most happiest moments in my journey have been to see the youth interact with my work as I believe it’s our future generations that will make a great impact on the preservation of our planet. The most important aspect of my work is that it’s created from a place of love and care. Its essence, its purpose is to help start the steps in reconnecting with our true selves, with each other, and most importantly, with the earth.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

I had to unlearn many key lessons I was taught during my journey of starting an online technology business. After I started my creative practice, I questioned these lessons. Though they are valuable and I still use them to this day, they no longer apply in the way I had originally thought. In its essence, art is not a business. Art can be a business and it should should be. As artists, we need to create a sustainable practice so we can continue to spread the energy to the world. But in its essence, the artistic practice is a way of life. It’s a way of seeing the world, seeing everyday objects, and being aware. It’s to see with the intention of questioning the existence, the start, and the future of the very thing you are seeing. Art is seeking. It’s not something that can be described in words. It is the shades of an infinite number of colors. When I approached starting my artistic practice from the lens of a previous business owner who learned the ways of the corporate world, I quickly learned that these two approaches are completely different. I still learn to this day that the growth of an artist in their respective field comes from a very sacred internal source. It’s the same source that is connected to something greater than ourselves. Approaching artistic growth in terms of marketing, branding, networking, applying, and being commissioned for work, is all a secondary layer. At the foundational layer, sits only you and the work. If you can create meaningful and powerful work, while quieting the mind and voices of what others might think, if it will sell, where will it live and where will it go, then, is where I have learned, that great work can be created. And the laws of attraction will take action.

Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

There is a plentiful resource that is the artistic community. What I have learned in my journey and only after years in the practice, is that many of us in the community at one point or another, were helped and given guidance by a peer. It’s that same guidance that I received that I am very eager to give back to the newest members of the community. I believe many art communities have a foundational value of supporting and sharing knowledge. I believe the challenging step for emerging artists is to put themselves in the places where these conversations can begin. This might mean studying the events, people, shows or talks so that you have information before the in-person conversations take place. This is not necessary and there does not have to be prior knowledge before stepping into those situations. Peronally, I feel more confident in having intentional conversations with the insight I might gain from my research. Though the artistic community as a whole could be considered a larger resource, building meaningful relationships should be a consideration when engaging. I believe that each one of us is a resource and we must be ready to support and help just as we might be seeking that support. As a collective, we are a network of experiences, feelings, and knowledge and there is no one-way street. The artistic journey has at times felt like a lonely path. The many hours spent inside an isolated studio doing internal digging only to reflect that creative energy in your work can quickly lead to burnout. I felt the single greatest resource that has maintained my excitement and purpose is the creative community itself. It’s a humble reminder that there are so many of us facing similar challenges and creating from the same source of passion.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://jamal.earth
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jamalofearth/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamalshussain/

Image Credits
Aaron Wharton, Omar Tarique, Jose Lozano, Roman Hernandez