We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Komplex Simplicity. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Komplex below.

Komplex, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

As a child, my mother sold baskets. I would follow her into her car on weekends as she traveled to beauty shops across the city on her day off. Although I didn’t care for the solicitation aspect, seeing her fellowship and network while selling what she essentially created out of nothing was always riveting to me. At that moment, I knew I desired an untraditional path, but I also knew the expectations required of me. I was going to seek higher education, but I didn’t always know what my creative path would look like and how those two strengths, both creative and scientific, would align.

Komplex, 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?

As a creative professional, I have my hands on multiple projects at any given time. Life has lead me through a series of needs that have birthed creative gifts. After a long background in music and performing arts back home (in Los Angeles, CA), I began authoring books in 2016. After leaving LA, I navigated my talents to Clarksville, TN, and expanded into spoken word. (Spoken word is a form of poetry, which has a stronger emphasis on performance and delivery versus written/read literature.) I spend a vast amount of time in Nashville and, as a result, have connected to many artists who are passionate about similar things.

Using spoken word as a conduit, I started the UNPOPULAR Movement, which reminds people to be whoever God created them to be, regardless of age, gender, or other societal stereotypes and norms. I am a curious writer, exploring the things I observe in life with metaphors and beautiful word pictures. I have a dynamic approach, whether I speak on the stage or my words are written on a page. I hope to enlighten the truth with every release, while exploring topics and emotions everyone can relate to. In that, I hope to help make the complexities of our reality simple, and that is the basis of my name, Komplex Simplicity.

Having the ability to express myself through spoken word lead to opportunities for merchandise. My oldest sister believed that I could create the merchandise myself. I vividly recall that telephone conversation. She believed in my ability so much, I had no choice but to believe too. Today, I co-run a clothing printing business where I serve the needs of people who desire to express themselves through what they wear, of small businesses who need clothing for employees and of creatives like myself who needed clothing for branding purposes. As my sister is no longer with us, her vision and belief in my ability lives on through every design and piece of clothing worn.

When I am not writing, performing, or creating with clothing, I enjoy activism through labor and community organizing, photography, podcasting, and blogging. I’m also co-host of Clarksville’s Power of Words, the official open mic night of Clarksville, TN.

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

There are two things actually, first, my creativity is guided by the Holy Spirit. Some of the things I create are not always for or about me. In these moments, my goal is always to connect and reach, in the hopes that someone feels seen or receives the healing they need.

Second, life is fluid. Individuals who are not creatives tend to struggle with that. Things in their world tend to be black and white while we understand shades of grey. While having plans are important, I am never so rigid as to not be sensitive to the God aspect. Knowing that His plan is always better than mine.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Prior to the pandemic, I was very active on the spoken word scene. When the world shut down it gave me the opportunity to create, regroup, and unexpectedly, to grieve. In late 2020, I lost my older sister, not to the pandemic, but the absence of her presence shook me creatively. In the year after her passing, I didn’t write, I struggled to create in other areas and I no longer performed. After months went by, I convinced myself that I was done with spoken word. A creative friend of mine would invite me out to poetry events, but I refused to attend. He never gave up on me though, and one night I had a breakthrough. I was finally able to express creatively what she meant to me, and how it felt to be void of her daily presence in the form of spoken word. Through that invite, I went to an event in late 2021 and performed. That night was essential to where I am today and coupled with therapy, I have grown tremendously as an artist and as a woman.

Contact Info:

• Website: iamkomplexsimplicity.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamkomplexsimplicity/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/iamkomplexsimplicity
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/iamksimplicity
• Other: https://linqapp.com/komplex_simplicity