I am an Artist

When I refocused early last year (ie I stopped employed work and switched my attention to my artistic pursuits), I wasn’t sure I should call myself an artist straight away. I’m a scientist who had worked in research, communication, management and consulting, but I’d never been formally educated in the arts. Was I qualified to put “Artist” below my name in my profile, or did I first have to prove myself as such somehow?

After many months of deliberation — and, as it happens, lots of artistic development in the meantime — I have come to the firm conclusion that, indeed, I am an artist.

Bold, I know. And this claim will no doubt be challenged straightaway, since the art world abounds with different expectations of a “real artist.” To pre-empt that, let me clarify how I interpret the role of an artist:

An artist is a person with the privilege to step back and look at the world around them (or inside them) more closely or from new angles, without the pressure to come up with anything immediately useful or productive. They then may convey their observations and insights to their audience by creating something new — an image, text, music or whatever — that may not be of much practical use, but will affect at least some people by triggering an emotional response, or offer a new perspective on the world, or make them reconsider their own perceptions.
So, on top of the actual art pieces they create, artists also make a more intangible contribution to society: their art helps to make people feel differently, think more, and be inspired.

None of this requires a Fine Arts degree or adherence to any established media or techniques. And once I realised that it is enough for my art to touch just some people, not everyone, I was able to accept my own approach to art making as valid. As long as I can bypass the traditional gate-keepers of the art world to somehow get my art out to those people it needs to touch, I don’t require any authority’s approval to call myself an artist.

In my mind, being an artist is more of a mindset than an occupation.