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.

Lola Victor

Being a burgeoning female artist in the art world is similar to being in a pit of lions. However the lions are not the limitations of people, but instead the internalized constructs of society, that come hurling towards you, as critiques and write-offs of your art, in many moments unforeseen via the projections of others. You cry often but alone, for fear of being “too emotional,” as you are shown that it is much more rare to be understood in light of your art, and far more common to be misunderstood as a female artist. Read more>>

Brandi Stanley

There’s a bit of advice some people might have heard that goes something like, “Your deepest wound is probably the thing you’re here to heal in the world.” Or, “Whatever is weirdest about you is likely what you’re here to give.” Well, I’ve spent a lot of my life feeling pretty isolated because it didn’t seem like anyone really understood me. Constantly striving to hold complexity and nuance, I have lost a lot of friends and relationships in my life—and generally turned people off in work environments, too—because others seemed so fiercely loyal to holding onto their particular form of “dogma” or identity without seeing any valuable truth in seemingly “opposing” points of view. Read more>>

Teeya Skipper

There are so many ways that Artist/creatives are misunderstood. I’d literally be writing a book here trying to explain. However the way that I am misunderstood is that people think that what matter’s to them about “me” matters to me and it doesn’t. Most people are nervous to talk to me or shocked when I respond to their DM’s because they’re expecting me to not be as accessible as they perceived I would be. It surprises people that im human, humble, kind, simple and Introverted. Read more>>

Milli Metoyer

I’ve been misunderstood and mischaracterized my entire life. I had really long hair as a 4 year old; everyone thought I was a girl. In a time when locks were the coolest style for young black boys, I straightened my hair with a perm; people called me gay. I lost my very thick Louisiana accent in high school; people said i ‘talk white’. When I started to share my music around school people said I was weird and lame because it didn’t sound like Lil Boosie. It took a toll on me throughout childhood, always being different than all of the other kids. I spent a lot of time crying alone. As I got older, I spent a lot more time accepting myself. Read more>>

Isaac Thomas

I feel my work has been misunderstood before. Part of what I do is performance poetry. My writing is expressive and emotional but not always literal. Years ago I performed a piece filled with colors and what seemed like sexually charged scenarios. After the event was over, a few people came to me expressing their concern for my emotional health and felt I should seek counseling. I tried to explain that I express myself using metaphors and that my written and visual work can not always be taken literally. I learned that people will make their own interpretation and stopped attempting to explain my work. Read more>>