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

Mariah, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Are you happy as a creative professional? Do you sometimes wonder what it would be like to work for someone else?

I am so happy with my life as a creative! Choosing to pursue a creative life has opened so many doors and so many opportunities outside of painting. This year alone, I’ve worked on an upcoming feature film as an Art PA, I’ve spent time as a personal assistant to one of my favorite R&B singers, I recently got back into live sound engineering, and next week I’ll be on hitting the road as the tour manager for one of my favorite singing groups. Life has been an exciting ride! And though the freelance life can be a bit stressful when it comes to the lack of a steady paycheck, I would choose the freedom and happiness I have now over a regular job any day.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I’m Mariah Seales. I am a full time creative currently living in Nashville, TN. If you had asked me to tell you about myself before 2020, I would’ve said “I’m a music producer and live sound engineer with dreams of managing artists or creative directing.” But like everyone else, the pandemic changed not only who I was, but how I was able to create. I started painting as a quarantine hobby, and it turned into a therapeutic passion. After leaving the music industry in 2021, my earlier artwork focused on album covers as inspiration. Using acrylic paint to turn beloved classics into pixelated art, playfully insinuated that when you know a body of music well enough, you can recognize it, even while out of focus.

As my technique evolves, I’m now starting to expand the scope of ‘out of focus works’ in a way that captures life from my point of view. As a queer, black, women, who is also a veteran, I recognize that my life experience is not only unique but it also has so many intersections that connects me to others. My latest pixelated collection titled “WLW” focused images of queer woman in embrace, leaving the images out of focus as a way to protect to love shared between two women from those who want to sexualize it.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

Freedom is the goal. I grew up in Hopkinsville, Ky. Population: 30,000. For most of my life, I didn’t know much existed outside of that small town. I didn’t know that I could exist outside of it. I had no idea how big (literally and figuratively) the world is and how much there was to do and be in it. Finding that out, was a bit jarring, I felt limited by my race, my gender, my queer identity, and most of all: by money. But the more I got to know and accept myself, the more I started to experience what it felt like to have endless opportunities. So the goal is be free in all ways. Free to learn, free to use my time how I want, free to rest, free to love, free to travel and explore, free to create, free to try, free to fail, free to express myself, free to be me. Which in turn will inspires others to live a free life.

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

I wish I knew more about grants and public funding for art projects. I have so much I want to create and put out into the world, but with life comes bills. Being that I’m just getting started in my career, a lot of the art that I’m currently working on are commissioned pieces. For awhile it felt a bit discouraging to not have the money to both pay bills and create freely. But recently I’ve been introduced to a few grants funded by the state as well as public art projects they allow artists more freedom in creating outside of commissions.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @mariahseales/ @byseales

Image Credits
Emily April Allen. Thomas “Keep3” McDougal.