Interdisiplinary

there's so many things I could say here

Trying to decide what to talk about as my 'non art thing that influences my practice' was really hard because I feel like I'm interested in a lot of things but I'm not sure how any of them influence my practice. I think if I had to pick one things I'd say fantasy things probably influence me the most. I've always loved fantasy, especially when it comes to knights and swords and dragons and witches. I think it comes from the fact I used to play a lot of video games as a child and my favourite ones were always open world rpgs, anything adventure-y and explore-y. I just love to be in that world where magic is real and there's evil plots and goblins and trolls and the world is wild and there's so much of it left uninhabited and left to discover. It's also probably because fantasy worlds are so embellished. Everything looks cool and people dress crazily and monsters are weird and a wonderful. I think magic and monsters are really key, especially witches. I remember I loved Macbeth because I loved that aesthetic of these dark characters and their demise. I've watched Practical Magic about a million times because I love witches. Magical, intelligent, powerful women are my FAVOURITE THING. I think growing up and always seeing these women in fantasy games and films and books made me really aspire to be that strong willed and smart and independent, but also to appreciate making and representing these characters in my art. When I had to be a guy in a game I was mad, I always wanted to be a cool girl knight not a boy because I probably wanted to see myself in that character.

 I really like spooky stuff as well I guess. I grew up watching a lot of horror films and loving Nightmare Before Christmas and anything Halloween themed because it's around my birthday. I like eerie, spooky, witchy, grisly vibes. Twin Peaks is my FAVOURITE show ever and I think that sums up a lot of my interests as well. People are sweet and fun but also have secrets and passions and are cruel and mean. There's a horrible undertone that peaks out every now and again and reminds you that there's awful things happening because all these people are human and the show is about the darkness of men basically. Things are paranormal and also completely human and normal. I think as well, the importance of nature in fantasy (and Twin Peaks) really attracted me to them. The idea of someone lost in the woods or the monsters that come out of the mountains, it made me feel like the world was secretly magic and special. I loved nature, it always excited me and made me feel magic and hyped up to be outside on the moors or climbing a hill or on the beach. So in every game I played or film I watched my favourite bit was always when they were scavenging for berries in the forest or making a journey across some desert or something. Not the bit where they were in the boring village.

I found this task really hard to write about because I have no idea how I'd look at my practice and look at a thing I like and say 'here's how they link'. I think I need to take more time to think about this because there's definitely specifics I could pick out. I just haven't ever really thought about this, I feel like I've got a proper mental block on this so idk, I need to think about this more.