We recently connected with Safía Stoute and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Safía, thanks for joining us today. Do you feel you or your work has ever been misunderstood or mischaracterized? If so, tell us the story and how/why it happened and if there are any interesting learnings or insights you took from the experience?

I remember when I started studying art one of my tutors started their first class saying if you’ve felt misunderstood, stood out and seem to have differing opinions to most you’re doing the right degree. As I get older I realise being misunderstood and mischaracterised is natural in a society which often sees people as a monolith instead of simply individuals. I have accepted that being misunderstood as just a part of selfhood

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?

I am a 23 year old Barbadian Visual Artist, mostly creating with oils/acrylics on canvas or watercolours/ ink on paper. I’m also very interested and passionate about fashion and am currently pursuing education in garment making. Coming out of the pandemic my biggest issue was finding grounding again in my art. In 2022 I made little to no art but as 2023 has passed I have made more work than I did throughout the last 2 years previously. With my recent recommence in making work, I’m excited to show my ideas visually. I have a lot of goals when it comes to my work even beyond even art and fashion. However, my main goal is to give representation and liberation to people as a whole, to get rid of the idea of people as a monolith

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

A lesson i had to unlearn was thinking passion alone can fuel success. I have learnt the hard way, I think, that it is takes serious discipline and hard work.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The most rewarding part of being an artist as cliche as it may sound is simply the ability to create. When I was younger i felt slightly burdened with the career path I thought I choose in the arts. However, as I have grown I see creating as my life’s purpose. Being creative and also being a critical thinker has always been the path for me to follow. The reward is the ability to create masterpieces and spark ideas others

Contact Info:

• Instagram: safia stoute
• Youtube: safia.stoute