Interview with July Youth Artist marlaina mac
Our Youth Artist of the Month is marlaina mac, whose moving and introspective pieces are on display throughout July.
In an interview with us, marlaina discusses the ideas that culminate in the making of her visual and written pieces, and what she’s learned in the preparing for her show.
Marlaina’s opening is July 13th from 6-8pm.
How do the ideas for your pieces come to you? Is it an initial image, feeling, concept, or a culmination of elements?
I’m not really sure. Being the stubborn, strange person that I am – I refuse to trace references, follow instructions, or train classically in art. I’ve always preferred to jot down straight from my head while committing trial and error until a piece looks ‘suitable enough’. From my experimentation, I voluntarily have learned (and continue to learn) artistic skills the hard way. My feelings, imagination, and stories within my mind always drive my most intricate pieces.
My art mainly comes from my thoughts. My quite literal thoughts and feelings in the moment become scribbles, wads of paint, and deeply-honest words. Whatever I am thinking about I toss onto a paper/canvas. Sometimes it is a vaguely planned scenery, other times it’s an explosion of raw material that I mess with until I see something.
A lot of my art, however, sprouts from overwhelming feelings.
Sometimes, when I am emotionally overwhelmed I have the uncontrollable urge to drop everything and make art. After making art I almost – in a way– feel lighter.
I love capturing
a scene,
a story,
a feeling,
a state of mind,
and different worlds,
through my art.
When I’m happy
I make art.
When I love someone
I make them art.
When I hate something
I make art.
When I’m stressed
I make art.
When capturing the scenery of the world within my mind,
I make art.
When I’m deeply saddened,
I make art.
The list of my inspirations goes on,
and on,
and on.
Art is my passion and way of processing my inner-self.
What you wrote in your artist bio was incredibly moving. Would you consider incorporating writing into your visual work, and if so, how?
There is writing in some of my visuals! My second most favorite hobby is writing. I often like to relate them to each other. My art often relates to my writings, and my writings to my art. They are almost always interchangeable and related through my eyes. For this show, I plan to write brief writings for every art piece so that I may further build the story I’m trying to tell. I am considering showing some of my pieces as well. (It’s still on the table though –)
Where do you see your artwork going next and what do you plan to study at RIC?
I’ll start with the art question. I used to want to pursue art since I’ve loved it for so long. However, upon taking an AP art class I quickly learned that I hate it when my hobbies have deadlines. For me, I can only create art when I feel inspired, driven, and passionate about what I am creating. A sense of duty, rushed ‘perfection’, and insincere outcomes frustrated me – which was the reason for all my assignments being incredibly late and graded poorly. From here on out I decided my art would remain as mine; an expression of myself and love. I make art because it makes me happy.
In regards to my future career and pursuement at RIC:
RIC is a stepping stone in my master plan to obtain a Phd! I aspire to earn a masters in Clinical Psychology as well as a Phd in Clinical Counseling.
As you can see, I definitely fit the stereotype for psych majors haha – (regarding my past trauma history). However – believe it or not – this factor only plays a very small role in my decision to pursue this career.
My most formative moments as a child are rooted in my relationship with my brother. He’s always been someone I’ve deeply cared for and cherished, not to mention admired because of his insane genius. He’s probably the number one person I’m the most protective of and always will. Unbeknownst to him, he’s taught me kindness, understanding, protectiveness, and love. Growing up with him, I developed the skills of empathy, advocacy, and patience, which has translated into how I’ve treated others all my life.
These skills were always a background aspect of mine, considering that I wasn’t graded on them in school. As I got older, I volunteered more often and gained more social opportunities. I began to realize my passion for people and their stories.
When I got my job at the YMCA as a swim instructor, I found a love for working with children and adults. Those long hidden aspects of myself began to shine through brightly. I find so much reward in understanding another human and adjusting to their individual needs. I know the pain of being criticized, rushed, and shamed for not learning the same way or as quickly as the rest of my peers. These unfortunate experiences drove me to show as much care and kindness to my students as possible so that they may never feel the way I did with those past teachers of mine.
I absolutely adore working with beginners and I love watching them progress in small ways. Whether it's floating for the first time or being able to get over a mental block simply by lifting a foot off the pool floor. Being able to connect with different minds has been such a privilege. It has filled me with so much more perspective on what being human means.
There is a large overlooked mental aspect attributed to learning how to swim. Our mentalities and mental blocks are incredibly involved in our relationship with water while within bodies of water. For example, in the perspective of a beginner child; they are faced with a new environment that contains a completely different gravity and a substance where they can not breath upon going under. It can be really scary, a large adjustment, and a call for bravery. It takes earning trust, showing patience, and kindness to help someone grow to love and work with the water. The same applies to people much older! This fear of the water can sometimes be deep rooted in traumas, childhood, decades-old fear, and little confidence in self. By breaking down the lessons into more manageable small amounts I am able to cater to every individual. These small accomplished steps cause a visible glow in my students and their confidence which fills me with such an inexplicable feeling of reward.
These experiences I’ve had with different humans of all ages, disabilities, adaptive needs, fears, skills, learning styles, and preferences have enlightened me.
This privilege of being the guide that helps another overcome different mindsets, blockages, emotions, experiences, challenges, frustrations, and fears inspired me to pursue a career in Clinical Psychology for diagnosis and therapy.
How did you learn about The Collaborative and what have you learned in the process of preparing for your opening?
My Aunt has worked in and for the Collaborative for a pretty long time. She introduced me and welcomed me to take up a student opening this July.
In preparing for the opening I’ve had to organize and connect my pieces which prompted a deeper analysis of the story I’m trying to tell. This process has helped me understand my journey a little better and connect the broken pieces.
I had to exclude some pieces – I felt like they were too personal. It scares me to be vulnerable with a crowd of somewhat strangers. My art is a window to my soul – having people look at my soul so openly shakes me a bit. But if I’ve learned anything from my many years of overcoming struggle – these vulnerable aspects of myself are strengths.
They do not represent me wholly.
I am so much more than these struggles.
I am not what happened to me.
. . .
However, what happened to me played a large role in who I’ve become – therefore making it an important story of mine to acknowledge.
This art show is a step out of my comfort zone. Opening up about my story is taking all the bravery I have from within. I am determined to be a light to others. With my bravery, I strive to normalize mental health struggles, expand perspectives, use my journey to help others understand trauma, and highlight problematic normalizations within our society.
I hope everyone enjoys my show!
