Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Miranda Plum. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Over the last decade I have immersed in the artworld, both as a visual artist and performing artist. As a visual artist I painted and exhibited around Australia then expanded in large-scale murals, where I was the first artist to begin transforming my home town from a very harsh environment to a stunning arts-hub that has uplifted the community and enhanced tourism. As a dancer and fire performer I toured with a performing arts festival, fully immersed in the world of musicians, street performers, aerial performers, theatre and more. This immersion led me to work with artists as a booking agent and events coordinator, to boost arts opportunities in regional and remote WA.

With a front row seat with not just my own art, but witnessing the dynamic between the audience and performing artists, I became fascinated by the question of what is this for?? What is actually happening here between the audience and the artist? How do murals boost an economy and lower crime and, and why does live music make people so damn happy where thousands of people can be in an arena together and get along? Why are people drawn to it and why do we pay for a moment in time to witness art, or pay for something to have in their home that isn’t a necessity. I mean… you can’t eat it, so why do we do it?

And then also, what makes a musician or performer more magnetic than others? What makes some paintings more desirable? How can I learn the secrets as to what attracts and captivates an audience through art?

The secret, I discovered, all came down to energy.

Once I started understanding art as an energetic exchange, everything made sense.
And my own art not only started to take off, but began to evolve into a visual conversation on frequencies.

So let me explain….
What the audience is moving towards is a feeling. They want to be led, they want to be lifted, they want to be unlocked. Art offers this in the most extraordinary way.
A song about heartbreak can make us feel nostalgic, a good comedian can make us feel light, A tragic movie can leave us with a feeling of loss, abstract art can open us to wonder, a romantic novel can make us feel… well, you know.

What we are working with here is the ability to shift people’s energetic states through a creative exchange. The actor cries, the audience cries. The singer lived it, you live it. The painter cracks open a new world, your world is cracked open.

But in order for the artist to succeed, they have to embody the energy first. The actor has to be able to fully feel what they want the audience to feel, the musician has to be able to go there in themselves when they write, and record and play the song. The painter has to traverse realms themselves in order to open that door for others.

But upon this realisation, an even greater one came: That artists not only have an incredible role they play in the greater human consciousness, but we also have a responsibility.

Art of all kinds has the ability to reach people at a depth that is beyond what is conscious. But to unlock that for our audience the artist must be able to unlock themselves. For us to recalibrate and lift our audience, we must be able to lift and recalibrate our own energy. The inner-work of the artist becomes the subconscious inner work of the world.

And THIS is where the magnetism comes in – the magic in the art that draws our audience towards us. It’s the mystical answer to how to sell more tickets to a show, how to attract more people to an art exhibition and how to boost an economy of a whole town. When the artists takes the inner journey their energy is built and elevated as a result, then passed on in the art. When the artist can step into, and hold their own power and mastery, the audience is drawn towards them, so they can be led there too.

At the end of 2023 I closed a chapter on the visual art I was creating in my regional town and started fresh. While I’m so proud of what I had created, the journey I had taken to become an artist had changed me. I was ready to go in, deep within, where the source of inspiration had moved from outside of me to inside of me. Here I found my power – connecting with my deepest energetic experiences and translating them visually. Patterns, light codes, feelings….making the unconscious seen, felt and experienced in imagery.

What I’m anchoring in now is a new wave of artworks, while I mentor other creatives and people wanting shifts in their own life. Here, the artwork and the insights I gained into mastering and expressing our personal energy are merging – I’m guiding people both verbally and visually.

Oh, and of course I’m working on more fire performances…because at 41 I still can’t stop dancing.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

I’m going to be controversial here and say that the arts doesn’t need supporting. Not in the way of art itself lacking any kind of power. 

If someone ever bought from me because they thought they should “support an artist” I would be devastated.

If someone came to one of my exhibitions because they felt an obligation to support an artist, I would be devastated.

The exchange I want to feel with my audience is one of truth, of seeing them genuinely being moved by what I create.

If my art stirs something in someone, and they like that – only then, would I hope they come to my exhibition.

If someone feels a deep connection with my painting, ~ only then would I hope they buy.

This reflection and feed back from the audience can be the very thing that propels us forward to create mastery in our craft.

Art and artists do not lack power if we value and know its place, while fully stepping into ourselves, and our craft.

No, we can’t do it alone, but the kind of support we call in is not out of need or sympathy, it’s out of a shared value and recognition of our purpose.

The commonly spoken view that people should support the arts is not helpful.

But it starts with the artist ~
If we truly value it. They will too.
If we truly step into our role to lead people through art, they will come.

This subtle shift in energy and view point from the artist can result in the biggest changes, both in artistic career and in the way our culture views the arts.

I agree, the journey to becoming an artist is hard. It’s supposed to be hard. Because its the very journey that carves the artist into the full power of their role.

Ok so if we are here for the arts in a way where we see its value and want to empower it more, what can we do?

Yes, there is a role that we can all play, as the audience!

This role is a question of how the audience receives.

Visual art, music, literature, movies, performing arts, energy-rich/creative spaces…… with all their offerings, need to be fully received by the audience for the connection to happen.

The more they connect, the more power is in the affect.

When we go to see a musician play live, when we fully open, fully listen, fully immerse… THAT is when we are changed. THAT is when the music can offer it’s potential.

We can either pass a painting on a building, or we can take a moment to let it in. We can either skim-read a poem or we can contemplate.

The audience has an opportunity for art to slow us down, to let it cut through our life in a beautiful moment and absorb it into their being.

The value of the art, in a fully connected moment, becomes self-evident.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.mirandaplum.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/miranda_plum_arts/
• Facebook: Miranda Plum

Image Credits
Profile image and Images 5 and 6 – Dominique Visuals Image 7 – Anton Blume, featuring singer, Moana Mayatrix with myself on fire.