Often, those who tread off the beaten path are misunderstood or mischaracterized and so we asked folks from the community to reflect and tell us about the times they’ve been misunderstood or mischaracterized.

Mason Bradley

I feel like as an artist, as anyone who has ever ventured into a professional creative outlet could tell you, I constantly fall into situations where myself as well as my craft are misunderstood or mischaracterized. Speaking for myself, whenever I mention to someone that I am an artists there are already so many misconceptions that come with that title. For example, the assumption that I don’t have a “real job” or that I must be “starving” as a result of my career path. Another big one is that I must be wasting my time because it is foolish to believe that I can become successful based on my passion. Read more>>

Karl Zurflüh

My current body of work has been misunderstood by some. I have had people ask me to do live paintings, but want me to paint a different subject matter. I have submitted mural proposals and been told no, because it is too millitary. A lot of people just see the fighter pilot and assume it is a glorification of war. Even when people take the time to read my artist’s statement and learn where this work is coming from they don’t want to take the “risk” that others might misinterpret it. So there has been some push back on this body of work. Read more>>

Christopher Rector Jr.

Honestly I feel misunderstood quite a bit. There was always this feeling in my spirit which drives me to be competitive; I always have wanted to be the best. So when I started rapping I wanted to be the best at my craft! That in itself turned a lot of people away from me because they thought I was rude or cocky and the whole time I’m just a very confident and fun person. I’ve never intended to make others feel bad I just wanted to be amazing. Read more>>

DaVinci Kitsune

i mean, anytime you step into the public with a piece of art it’s always going to be up for interpretation. I think the biggest thing i faced was, people not understanding why i chose to rap AND sing. It’s like “yeah i can rap but what’s the fun in ONLY doing that.” I know we can’t please everybody but sometimes it feels like people don’t want artists to grow creatively. There also seems to be this thing where people wants artists to be vulnerable and pour out our deepest pains into our art. Me personally im not interested in doing that and it’s asking alot of an artist when you ask them to do that some of those feelings and emotions are still raw and unresolved, I’m much more interested in telling stories than i am diving into my childhood trauma on a song, haha. Read more>>

NVLICK

Yes a lot of people do not believe in me but I cannot stop working . I’ll remain stronger and focused on my journey . God will help me reach my goals . Read more>>

John Paul Hodge

When I was little, in all of my school pictures I would be in western shirts, pants and boots. This is how my father dressed nice and in turn this is how I learned to dress nice; in western wear. Nowadays I choose western wear because that’s the only experience I have in dressing nice, that’s all I really know about dressing nice. It’s nostalgia. It’s my comfort level. It just so happens that my dad enjoyed some country and western music as you would probably have guessed. Part of nostalgia for me then is also country and western music. Read more>>

Mike Jordan

Quite often i feel this actually and i thinks its a mix of social media and just a sense of being overlooked because I don’t try to be in everyone face to get my work seen. I truly do enjoy networking and meeting other creatives. I just see too many times especially in my city where that seems to be the only way to really get on to sort of say. I’m naturally not a man that will be in anybody face for the heck of it and but I’m very social at the same time lol. Read more>>

Charles Martinez

I believe there is starting to be a paradigm shift when it comes to the general publics view of the “MMA World” as the sport has grown and gained main stream media attention. At the conception of MMA in America it was branded as “human cock fighting”. Now although the early days of the sport used that sensationalism to attract a fan base, and some of the early participants may have been your stereotypical “tough guys”. The idea that the sport of MMA is full of dumb tough guys and tattooed thugs is long since outdated. The men and women competing at the highest levels of MMA at this point are ELITE level athletes. Often with long history of being competitive athletes with numerous stand out college and Olympic athletes currently fighting MMA. Read more>>

Tonya Merta

Because of the colors and symbols I use, a lot of my artwork falls into the “psychedelic” category. This is a style I enjoy and one that comes naturally to me, so I try not to worry about how it will be received by others. However, at my first ever art show—a festival in South Texas—I overheard an older man say “She must’ve been on drugs when she did that.”. Since that time, I’ve heard similar comments more often than I care to keep track of. Read more>>

 Joshua Calhoun

I feel like since beginning my dance journey in ATL I’ve been mischaracterized as a dancer and I think that mainly goes into my image and training. Later on in my journey I found that I’m misunderstood a-lot at times as a choreographer but I think that has something to do with my inner self. My image wasn’t what a ATL dancer should give, I was told dance more masculine and dress that part(now granted I knew my style had to be polished lol). I felt like my training wasn’t as advance as my peers in the room so confidence was low. I felt like I looked a certain way so I was expected to dance that way. Read more>>

Onicas Gaddis

At seven years old I knew I was an artist and no one could convince me otherwise. I’ve always felt misunderstood because of what I am. I learned at an early age that being an artist takes courage. Several people told me that I am waisting my life on this “dream” that will never happen. I often wonder what it would’ve been like to grow up in a loving home with encouraging and supportive parents. I learned that I had to believe in myself even if no one else did. Read more>>

Ricardo Acevedo

In the visual arts: I use the human body in much of my work, it’s often seen as salacious. Even though almost all my work sells to women. Musically: I blur styles. My work ranges from 80’s style New Wave to World beat Electro to post jazz and post rock. People like to put music in tidy boxes. That’s almost impossible with my work. Read more>>

Oneisha Thompson

As an unconventional henna artist, my work is constantly being misunderstood. While I do enjoy doing traditional styles of henna art and made a point to do research before calling myself a henna artist, I do love offering people the opportunity to get permanent style tattoos in a semi-permanent option. I am always asked do I offer permanent tattoos and if not, I should. Personally, I have given some thought to becoming a permanent artist, but I am more than happy with where I am. Not to mention, it is super rewarding when people do ask if my designs are permanent considering I am a freehand artist. Read more>>

Isabel Rhodes

I think that when people hear “lawyer”, “attorney”, or “law student” the automatic assumption is that they are in it for financial gain or that they are going to take advantage of their clients. However, this is further from the truth. Although, of course there will always be those who are dedicated to only financial gain (like in every field), it has been my experience that many of us really DO want to make a change and leave this world a bit better than when we found it. Read more>>

NovaKane

Early on in my career, I did feel like my music was misunderstood because not everyone could grasp it. While in grade school/high school, there isn’t that much diversity in hind sight because of trends, as a whole entity. As I got older, evolved, and had more life experiences, I realized that everyone has their own lane. Once you grasp that reality and focus on YOUR art, everything you do will prosper. I was able to myself and because of that, my music has reached countries I haven’t even stepped foot in yet. Read more>>