Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Kimberly Genevieve. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Kimberly, thanks for taking the time to share your story with us today. Naming anything – including a business – is so hard. What’s the story behind how you came up with the name of your Art gallery?
Our gallery is inspired by the Art of Living. The name “Art of Vieve” is a nod to living a life of creativity and self-expression, while the word Vieve, short for Genevieve, also stands for ‘Vivre,’ the french word for Living. Art of Vieve is about creating a home and a life that truly represents you and your unique style and personality instead of letting the outside world decide for you. We see Art as a means of self-discovery where every choice we make and every experience we have adds to the masterpiece that is our life.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
Hi, I’m Kimberly! I’m an LA-based director, photographer, and the founder of Art of Vieve, an online Art gallery of limited edition Art prints. At 24, I dropped everything, including my job as a postal worker, to move from my hometown of Ottawa, Canada, to pursue the artist life in sunny California. From the moment I arrived in LA, it felt like the sun radiated everywhere I went. At that time, I just wanted to capture as much of that feeling as I could — a contrast from my life back home in Ottawa. Though I didn’t realize it at the time, thanks to my camera, I was collecting snapshots and memories of what I saw around me. All the restaurants, beaches, palm trees — the people! It all felt so inspiring to me. I was soaking up this new world I’d dreamt about since I was a little girl, and the energy felt so contagious it gave me goosebumps. So much of my early work, now featured at Art of Vieve, is inspired by this feeling and point of view— a desire to keep looking at the sun. However, I’ve realized over time, as I’ve grown and expanded my point of view, that it doesn’t hurt to also embrace the clouds along the way.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
I think my journey with mental health is synonymous with resilience. I have to constantly work on myself and try my best to stick to a routine that keeps my mind in a healthy place. I have bad days, and I have good days, and I try my best to accept both sides. It doesn’t always happen, but I’m always working to get myself to the right place. I think any artist will tell you that there are intense or strong emotions happening inside at all times— it’s like a sensitivity or vulnerability that always seems to be lurking right below the surface. And sometimes, when you get distracted, overworked, or when you’re just not taking good care of yourself like you know you should be, those emotions take over (like quicksand), and you lose track of what’s real versus what may just be a painful memory or flashback from the past – one that still feels very real. I recently had an honest conversation with a friend who told me, ‘If I had to deal with half the things that go on inside your head, I think I would’ve given up or quit a long time ago.’ It made me realize that my ability to keep fighting and to keep getting back up, even in the midst of immense emotional pain, is a big part of my strength. And though the last few years have challenged me more than ever before, the truth is that every tear has been a part of my healing process and a part of uncovering who I really am. And to me, that is true resilience.
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
Lately, it’s connection. I want to make things that make me feel closer or connected to others in some way. When I hear someone say, ‘I feel that way too,’ that automatically brings us closer together. When you can do that for someone who doesn’t feel seen or understood in this world—like so many of us feel—you can really touch on what is universally true about the human experience: that we all just want to be loved and feel like we belong. So, making things that are both personally healing to me and that also have the potential to make someone else feel less alone is ultimately what I’m after these days.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being an artist or creative?
It’s seeing little glimpses of myself coming up to the surface, parts of me that weren’t always accepted or got pushed aside at an early age. I feel like for many years, I didn’t know who I was. I got pulled in a direction that wasn’t entirely me, and I felt this immense amount of pressure to keep being that person or character when I knew deep down there was so much more to me if I could just figure out how to break through it somehow. I think just being able to be truthful and vulnerable—that’s the most rewarding aspect of being an artist.
Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight— you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.
I recently heard someone say that “no one is actually built to take on the painful work of constantly going within, so if someone is choosing to do that day after day, regardless of how painful it is to look at the truth, then it’s probably because it’s a calling beyond their own sense of self-preservation given how sensitive they are.” I think non-creatives sometimes struggle to understand the need an artist has to go within and to ask questions others may not be so comfortable asking— and to constantly try and make sense of how they feel and where those intense emotions come from. This is all part of the creative process — and for some, it can look like rehashing the past or not being able to “get over” things— but the truth is, it’s this weird need to understand and to create from a place of truth. It’s both exhausting and beautiful, but like Dante says in The Divine Comedy, “the path to paradise begins in hell.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.kimberlygenevieve.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/kimgenevieve
- Youtube: https://vimeo.com/user109812564
- Other: Layers Short Film – https://vimeo.com/user109812564/layers Memories Short Film – https://vimeo.com/834918667 Art Gallery – www.artofvieve.com
Image Credits
Kimberly Genvieve