Local artists and self expression

Photo courtesy of Mackenzie Brown.

To understand art is an art itself. Since the beginning of time, humans have found ways of self-expression, art in different forms. For each human there expressive art comes in different forms. That is the beauty of it all. I interviewed three different local artists and invited them to give their insight and thoughts on expressive art.

I sat down (virtually) with a poet, singer/actor, and a photographer and I asked them all the hard questions. I wanted to look further into their art and see what they saw, Like Mackenzie Brown’s photography.

Mackenzie Brown (15) says she does photography ‘for the world to see through her lenses’. Brown started photography when she was getting home from a road trip and she was at a target, she looked at a bike rack and felt that there was something she saw that the world needed to see.

Photography for brown is more than self-expression, its perspective. ‘I learned to find beauty in things I never would have before photography’ Brown says photography has taught her to be in the moment and look deeper into the real world.

Brown says photography is a way to look in the eyes of the photographer and experience the thrill of finding the world as special as they do.

Words are what Dima Adib finds special. Unlike many poets, Adib found her love of poetry when she was overwhelmingly happy on vacation in her native country Lebanon. She said that she needed some way to express her joy, as a result, she put pen to paper and wrote away.

‘Poetry is how I express myself indirectly’ She says. Dima Adib agrees that to understand poetry is an art of its own, and all poetry is abstract. With poetry, Dima says she found comfort in writing her emotions in a way only she could see them, while the next person would analyze it with their own bias and to fit them personally.

‘My writing grew with me’ Dima says. ‘I never knew I could write till I put pen to paper’. Writing is a trait Dima says everyone has. You just have to write with no limitations, and that’s the beauty of poetry.

The beauty of Sarah Drissen’s art is more complex. Sarah Drissen’s family has a long lineage of music and acting and that’s how she picked it up, she says.

Getting into different characters has taught Drissen to see through the perspectives and actions of others much better. ‘I can understand better why people do the stuff they do’ Drissens says. Acting has taught her to put herself in other people’s shoes quite easily.

Music for Sarah ‘has so much emotion, it’s fun to go to another world for 4 minutes and just be that person’. Singing requires growth and challenge and it’s what she loves about singing.

Unlike writing and photography, the acting world factors in the race quite a lot especially with typecasting. It has been a struggle for Drissen, but nevertheless, she has remained the best actor I know.

Art for these girls has taught them so much about them and the world. Looking through the perspective of these artists has been insightful and a memorable experience. It teaches you to look at the artist when viewing the art, as a way to understand art better.