We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Miriam Hull a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Miriam, thanks for joining us today. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.
Being a self taught artist, I learned through trial and error. I recall first starting and really wanted to be a realism painter, all of my subjects were flat lol. As easy as it could’ve been to give up in the beginning, I didn’t. Realism was hard for me and I was easily frustrated until I learned that I had to build color, add shadows, add highlights, depth, etc. In that moment, the lesson for me was to take my time. Processes take time, rushing the process in a way makes you miss small details that could mean a lot in the end. In which, I now can apply to my everyday life, outside of art.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
I am Miriam Hull, a 25 year old, self taught painter from Detroit, Michigan. (Raised in Highland Park.) My art journey started officially in spring of 2020, during the pandemic. During the long time of being still while on shut down, I returned to one of my passions, art. Starting off by painting on clothes to three years later and showing in galleries and doing cool interviews, I can say this has been a journey.
I have experience in the body art world, being a piercer at Bloodline Dynasty, as well as the fine art world, with painting. Being around multiple forms of art, daily has helped me grow as an artist and maintain a creative balance. The best way to describe me is authentic. As an artist, creating has done nothing but made me feel good. The process, the emotions and just being able to paint and give life to memories and experiences strengthens me. Introspection, retrospection and authenticity are very important parts of my process. When it’s just me, the canvas and the paint, that’s when I feel my most free. Free to think, free to feel, free to explore. With art being an emotional vessel for me, it’s what I bring to canvas.Often depicting the black experience in my work, my love for Black people is never ending and that’s the imprint I want my work to leave. I want to inspire and immortailize my family, community and whoever my art continues to reach. The message behind my art is love.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
Meeting new people and the never ending lessons being learned. Being an artist goes hand in hand with my healing. I’ve come across so many new places and people, who come from both similar and different walks of life than me. It’s just something about that connections. As an artist, I’m forever a student. Whether I’m learning something about my craft, or how to sell my art or how to curate a show, etc. I am always learning and with that I am able to continuously grow and get better.
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
Everyone’s journey is not the same in art and there is no rule to being an artist. When first starting I had no clue about curating or exhibiting, I just thought my art was cool and I wanted to show people lol. The first place I ever exhibited at was Escape2NY in New York City, maybe just a year into painting. Fast forward to 2022 and I curated my own solo show and a group show 4months apart, with no gallery or pointers on putting an art show together. I I rented out venues for both events and created the space for artists to authentically be themselves. It felt great to do that, in that moment , I didn’t want to wait for a gallery to tell me I was good enough or anybody for that matter. I wanted to prove it to myself because this is my journey as an artist and I make the rules, as I go lol. Comparison is a thief of many things
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theartistmir/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theartistmir
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@theartistmir?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc
Image Credits
Miriam Hull