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"Simple Life in the Back Roads" collage by Lani, textures by FlyPaper. |
So how do we find and occupy these marginal spaces? How do we learn to appreciate the margins? As artists, I believe the fastest route to authenticity and de-colonization is by creating art every day, for ourselves, for our own enjoyment. With practice, art making can be a quiet time of reflection, a time of turning away from the pressures of the dominant culture and a time for exploration of the "back roads," and if you allow it, beyond the reach of the mediocre and ever so boring, mundane mainstream. There is a great deal of life and freedom in the marginal spaces, which leads to a happy artist's life. May we all find and enjoy the simple and beautiful life in the back roads.