Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Zion McKnight. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Zion, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. 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?
Being misunderstood and mischaracterized is something I feel like I’ve experienced throughout my whole life. Growing up black in predominantly white spaces contributed to a lot of complexities in my identity development. Assimilation, internal struggles, fear based conformation.. “I am who I am when I am.” This is my mantra that I am constantly telling myself as I grow and expand in the world. I am everchanging and always growing so showing up as my truest self in the spaces I’m in is something I’m always practicing. I feel like people are quick to perceive people without truly knowing them, and though I do not care about people’s perceptions of me, I always to express myself to people with the attempt to be understood as who I truly am. Understanding is the gateway to connecting, so I’m always seeking to understand and connect with people. Though I do feel like there are very few people who truly understand me. I think that’s where I find my place as an artist. Creating art and images as way of self expression to not only give people the ability to connect, understand, and make sense of the work but to also connect and make sense of me.
Zion, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I am a multifaceted artist of many mediums, the main ones being drawing, painting, and photography. My introduction into the art world began when I was a kid when my dad first introduced me to Dragon Ball Z. I was so enthralled by the characters, their designs, and muscles that I wanted to create my own. I spent hours with a number 2. pencil in my right hand letting my imagination run wild as I conjured up drawing after drawing. I took a class as well as continued drawing throughout high school and realized that as I got older and grew with the world so did my art. My creations became a lot more personalized and from deeper within. This was around the time when I realized not only that my art was a big way that I expressed myself, but the power art had in allowing people to connect to and with the world. I picked up painting in college, switching from a pencil and pen to a paintbrush. Initially I saw painting as an evolution of drawing. Taking my skills and all I’ve learned from creating on a sheet of paper to then creating on a canvas. As I grew and formed new perceptions I realized that yes drawing skills can and does translate to painting skills, but painting is very much it’s own medium. I learned a lot about colors, different painting methods, and many of the ways the strokes of a brush could differ to create not only different pieces artistically but also such different energies. Photography being my main medium of choice, began for me in Highschool when I was gifted a Canon t50 for Christmas. A very simple and cheap single lens reflex film camera that I quickly fell in love with from the fun I came to have with it and the intimate images that I captured of my family and close friends. I loved the process of filling up a roll of film and then going to get it developed. My newfound interest in photography was quickly halted when I accidentally dropped and broke my camera on a mountain trip. Though I quickly ended up buying a new camera because of the love I had found capturing things through my glass lens. This new camera though was digital. It was the Canon Rebel T6. This camera is where I truly came to fall in love with photography. I photographed my friends as we hung out and posted the photos on social media and then more and more people began to reach out to me to take their photos. I learned photography mainly from simply going out and shooting all the time. Learning from my mistakes messing around with my settings, and discussing photography with other friends who were interested in it. I never took a class because I feared that teachers would try to change my stylistic eye in ways that didn’t feel natural to me. Since I started out photographing my friends my favorite style of photos were portraits. I loved capturing people and how they expressed themselves to the world. As I grew in this medium I began to find inspiration from all aspects of life and the beauty in all the small details that encapsulate it. Examples ranging from the Nature of the Earth, the abstract concepts of expression, and life experiences. Other artist who inspire me are Tyler Mitchell, Donald Glover, and Devonte Hynes.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
My journey to living as the artist that I am is a journey that is unique to me. Before pursuing my art I was pursuing physical therapy. The practical life was really the only life shown to me growing up. I wasn’t exposed to occupations like artist, graphic designers, or photographers throughout my young life. Adult figures and mentors often told me that I needed to get a good job to make good money and that would make a good life. I played sports all throughout my life too so exercising and maintaining good health were very important to me. Football was the main sport I played throughout high school and the majority of my life revolved around it since it was such a commitment. I knew I wanted to go to college after graduating but I wasn’t sure what I’d pursue. At the time I was really into exercise and training and when it came to jobs I wanted it to align with my interest and I didn’t want to work a desk job. After doing research on jobs that make good money, revolve around exercise, and allow me to be mobile in the workplace, I found physical therapy to be the occupation that I wanted to pursue. Majoring in exercise science in college but being an art kid at heart had me feeling out of place in all of my major related courses. I was good at science but didn’t find myself to be too interested in the courses. I didn’t relate to too many of my peers and my want to pass the classes was higher then my want to learn in them. I loved all of my art courses though and found myself really connecting and wanting to go the extra mile in these classes. My sophomore year came around and I made up in my head that I was going to change my major to cinema and television, but my parents didn’t think that was a good idea for me and so I opted out of going through with it and stuck the course I was on. In hindsight I wish I was confident enough to stand in my desire to change my major to what I was truly interested in. I graduated and began working in a physical therapy clinic and I knew the first day I began working that I did not want to be there spending my time there. I stuck it out there for six months before deciding that I wanted to give pursuing my art my time. I was fearful of making the decision because I didn’t know what I was going to do, where I would end up, and how everyone who helped me make it this far down this career path would feel. Though the day I finally left the clinic was the beginning of my life as an artist and I’ve been loving the journey and everything it’s had to offer.
Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?
My creative journey is my life journey, my purpose. I believe that my purpose in life is to inspire people to live and be their true authentic selves. As I’ve been on my journey pursuing my art/my passion I’ve found it to be so empowering. “I can’t go wrong nor left unless left is in the right direction,” is a phrase I often say as I continue pursuing my passion. I believe that one’s passion is aligned with their purpose because when you are doing what you love the quality of work that you do is the best and you’re happy doing it. I believe that everyone’s purpose is to contribute to the world whatever it is that they love doing because if everyone’s contributing their best then the world is nourished by billions of people providing their best and are also happy doing so.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.zionsperspective.com/
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/zionsperspective?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zion-mcknight-0873ab200
- Twitter: https://mobile.twitter.com/zionsadique
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@zionsperspective
Image Credits
Zion McKnight