In the art world, the topic of “finding your voice” inevitably comes up. Some artists have advice on how to find it. Others say it’s like chasing a phantom and basically a waste of time. Still others say even if you find your voice, the next question is how to shed that skin and find your next voice. I’m not here to philosophically solve these discussions. I mainly want to offer a piece of practical advice. For me, once I started implementing this practice into my life, my artistic life felt much more like an integrated expression of my unique interests and passions. You might say I found my voice.
The practice is simple. I just ask myself: What am I noticing?
The host of the podcast Creative Pep Talk, Andy J. Pizza, refers to this phenomenon as salience. He encourages artists to honestly notice what stands out to them that others might think is some kind of quirky side interest. In his own life, he speaks about how he was fascinated with dreams. He didn’t have a clear instinct of how it connected with his art, and for a long time he thought it was perhaps just a self-improvement project. But he eventually came to see dreams as a vital inspiration for his illustrations.
Artists, you need to give yourself permission to pay attention to your interests. Chase the rabbits as far as you need to. Deep down, those tunnels may lead you to where your voice lives. I think back to earlier in my life and how much I suppressed my interests because they were a “waste of time.” For instance, when I studied theology, I was often fascinated with mythic parallels between ancient creation narratives. But I didn’t pursue that interest because I told myself I was majoring in the minors. Over time, however, I came to see that my role as a Christian minister living in a different culture required me to observe the sacred stories of the culture around me and respond to those stories artistically. Because Genesis does this so well, it was worth attending to that interest.
Be aware, though, that it takes a long time to immerse yourself in something long enough to where it comes out in your art. Trust that slow process. Great actors understand that this process takes time. Of the many examples I could choose, I think of Natalie Portman who spent over a year immersing herself in ballet training for her role in the movie Black Swan. The history and practice she learned for that role often didn’t immediately apply to her role. But her immersion in it was part of what transformed her into the person who could convincingly portray that character in the movie. As artists, we have to embrace a similar mentality.
Even more germane for creative people, Walt Disney often spent large amounts of time in what might be called artistic research. As he created story worlds, he often based them on real places and folklore, trying to recreate the feeling of those inspirational sources. This kind of absorption is disproportionate to the level of material you place in your art. But it comes out. Picasso said of the Spanish war, “I did not paint the war… But there is no doubt that the war is in the paintings I made at that time.”
So artists, get curious about what stands out to you. What books or topics fascinate you? What places or people intrigue you? What experiences in your life have shaped you? What are you not giving yourself permission to notice? What’s holding you back from chasing that rabbit down? These interests just might play an important role in your voice.
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