“I’ve grown to understand that when I lack inspiration to write it’s somehow related, maybe even caused by, having strayed—mentally, emotionally, and probably physically—from my creative self. This is not to say that I always want to be producing work, but that I yearn to either be in or near a creative headspace. One way I try to keep in contact with my creative self is by watching and listening to the conversations of other creatives. Most often I seek out non-writers so that I can draw connections across disciplines. The questions they ask, the way they talk about their work (re-)illuminate my world, and make art and beauty more evident. Simply put: I love when artists talk about art because it makes me want to make my own. Here’s a selected list of interviews with international artists recorded by Louisiana Channel, Off Camera With Sam Jones, and TED that have been important and inspiring to me over the last few years:
- Painter Cecily Brown: “Take No Prisoners”
- Architect Anupama Kundoo: “Taking Time to Rethink”
- Painter Mark Bradford: “Layers of Violence”
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Photographer Ishiuchi Miyako: “Photography Makes History”
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Actor Tatiana Maslany: “Let the Creative Impulse Live”
- Painter Sam Gilliam: “Artists Are Supposed to Change”
- Filmmaker and photographer Lauren Greenfield: “Full Speed Towards the Apocalypse”
- Artist Marina Abramović: “An Art Made of Trust, Vulnerability and Connection”
Keeping conversations like these in reach always provides a spark.”
—Michael Torres, author of An Incomplete List of Names (Beacon Press, 2020)
Photo credit: Henry Jimenez