Nomenclature: Art Books and Intuition
As of late, I have fully re-immersed myself in my writing practice as a sort of generative meditation. I have begun to really let things flow and grow in the form of little art books! I have found the synthesis of leisurely scribbles with poignant lines to be super helpful in reminding me that art and life can be so goofy. Humor is intertwined with every aspect of life; even comedy was originally full of tragedy when it was performed in Greece way back when! Truly allowing myself to take in and reflect on the humorous random blotches of text that pour out of me during a super slow shift at the ICA or while frantically trying to create a name that sounds cool and is also relevant to my work has been so healthy. Ah! This first little art book really showed me how far I have come when it comes to allowing myself leisure, pleasure, and dumb shit (in plain language lol).
For so long, I was so uptight and strict on myself because that is what I was comfortable with; I’ve always been super critical of myself and convinced little Amina that having fun and being social was a waste of time! So for the majority of my 21 years, I was super isolated and super sad despite the immense focus and channeling of my trauma that occurred up until Junior Year of undergrad to be honest. BUT NOW! I am truly in my Main Character/Happy Montage era! Between all the random happenings that have allowed me to travel out of state and make memories with my close and extended family and all the art opportunities coming my way, I truly feel like accepting and actively participating in the “goofy casual fun of life” was one of the crucial keys to the next steps of my life.
I have taken complete initiative of my life and I am super happy to say I am so comfortable in my own skin and my abilities. I’ve gotten to participate in two shows this semester! The Whole Caravansary, a group exhibition by me and my homies in the Senior Degree Project Fall course and Nothing Personal, a group exhibition curated by Katerina Muromtseva (a shining light, amazing artist, phenomenal educator and mentor)! I’ve sold two small Scribbled with Love marker drawings and I sold Deuces!! I will be participating in 1708 Gallery’s Monster Drawing Rally on the SAME DAY I GRADUATE AH! ( I’m going to make a killing at this thing) and I get to work alongside Mary Scurlock (high school CFA teacher), Brooke Inman (phenomenal human, teacher, helping hand and screen printer I’ve known since high school), and Nico Cathcart (local artist I’ve admired for YEARS).
Graduation will truly be the beginning of the rest of my life!
