Alex Kanka-Graves
Alex Kanka-Graves describes this Soul Art piece
I began this piece on Soul Art Day 2022 and it took a week to complete. I loved the process of putting together all the layers, both seen and unseen. Every bit of it has meaning to me and I really learned a lot. My original intention was “I see the world through fresh eyes and boldly weave possibilities into form” and as I practiced looking at things differently, I started to notice things that have been right in front of me all along but I couldn’t see them before. One of the biggest insights I got was how connected I am. I’ve been feeling isolated and like I don’t have a sense of community so I wanted to make sure that I included something about connecting to people, but when I started to make my little leaves, I discovered that there are actually eleven communities that I feel connected to. I just didn’t recognize it before because it didn’t look the way I wanted it to. When I followed my intention and looked with fresh eyes, I saw all of these communities that are already in my life just waiting for me to embrace them. That’s why I wanted to share my process with all of you. The Soul Art Community is one of those places where I feel connected.
This Soul Art piece in Alex Kanka-Graves’s words…
This piece came from Creative Entrepreneurship for a Nü Era Workshop in Soul Art School and it became sort of a stacked collage with each section building on the one below. The bottom represents preparing the soil, the middle is planting the seed and the top is nurturing growth. During the time I was working on it, I let some of the things I was “supposed” to do slide so I could devote more time to finishing my collages. I prioritized the thing that was important to me and I learned that I need to continue to do that, staying in the flow of my own rhythm and creativity as I devote myself to building my body of work. The Sovereign Queen lives inside me and she can guide me on my journey to fully embody her. I also felt inspired to make an altar for her and create a daily practice of communing with her.
How Alex Kanka-Graves describes this Soul Art piece
These came from the Create Yourself Journey in Soul Art School, so what did I discover and what does creating myself mean to me?
I think of myself as my greatest work of art, always changing, transforming, evolving and growing so creating myself is my life’s work. It’s the process of becoming more me and less who the outside world tells me I should be. It’s a journey toward sovereignty, authenticity and showing up as unapologetically me for all the world to see. The me that I am creating is my primal self and spirit self harmoniously united in creative expression.
Artist: Alex Kanka-Graves
Why Alex Kanka-Graves is in Soul Art School
I’m in Soul Art School because it is a wonderfully creative community and Laura’s monthly journeys always help me to gain valuable insights about who I am, where I’m going in life and why. I also love having the opportunity to share the journey with my fellow artists so that we can encourage and inspire one another along the way.