Do Artists Have to Become Their Work?
How to find your artistic voice? This is an essay about my struggle to define the best distance between being me - a person, and me - the artist. How do I find my style? Do artists need a style, is it even great to have one? And mostly - if I work so hard on having a style, a persona and a voice, how will I soften the diference between me and my creative work. How not to give in fully in the search of my own personal artistic voice…and end up being just a workaholic artist? Like, I think that is being a bad artist. And also, I don’t want to have workaholic as my style.
Here is the podcast I talk about my takes on this and also review some topics of the book of Lisa Congdon. She argues that "voice" is not something you are born with or suddenly "find," but rather something you build through consistent work and self-reflection. I also loved the concept of ORBIT that she uses on this book, and in my episode I touch on this topic as well.
Congdon breaks down an artistic voice into five core components that work together to create a recognizable style:
Skill: The technical ability to execute your ideas.
Style: Your visual vocabulary (colors, lines, shapes, and textures).
Subject Matter: The themes or objects you choose to depict.
Medium: The tools and materials you use.
Consistency: Using these elements together over time until they become your "calling card."
As the tattoo in my arm symbolizes for me - and artist should be different, weird, alien-like, aline-like, normal and ordinary to a point that we can make a difference because we care about the world, people and reality. But also be indifferent enough to don't care what people think, to imagine hard and act with authenticity against masses and conformity in order to be truly honest. It is a dilemma.
One of the book’s central mantras is "Conformity is for the birds." Congdon encourages artists to lean into their idiosyncrasies and personal histories. She suggests that what makes you "weird" or different is actually your greatest strength, as authenticity is what attracts clients and collectors. Same way I love my favorite artist just more once they expose themselves a little and be vulnerable to a point I actually can totally relate with them, or find them curious or cute or even just feel this pleasure to keep knowing a person and the many sides of them through the years I am following their work.
At the end what really resonates with me right now - at the beginning of 2026 - is the idea of practice, routine, discipline, commitment and actually JUST ACTING and doing the art in order to eventually discover yourself in it and maybe your style, or voice and deeper meanings. Maybe doing it along the audience itself.
For her, Lisa, voice is the result of "showing up" every day like the process of learning a foreign language and all its beginner gaps. Congdon emphasizes that you cannot think your way into a style; you have to work your way into it. She advocates for high-volume production and regular practice, noting that your voice emerges naturally through the sheer act of making art.
So I guess we will have to keep creating. Maybe will less ego or vanity of wanting to have a unique voice or wanting to stand out and be recognized. Somehow as an actress thats my guilty pleasure. In one of my first performances in my english school I played two roles. By the end of it all the parents were so shocked that it was me playing both of the roles.
My ego, my moment, my epiphany.
If you want to go even deeper into this thought of being actually plural and changing instead of finding that ONE thing that defines you, you should watch this episode above of my podcast or read my blog about it.
The magic is in the secrets - at least for me. So maybe let it be deep down within your own psique, let it be a mystery and just pretend you have one…and we can pretend over and over again.
It is often pretending that we discover truth.
