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Photo by: Michelle Mosqueda

“I’ve always followed my internal compass. When someone says ‘hey, I have an opportunity for you’, I think about how it feels in my body and whether it’s like a yes or a no. You just have to keep trusting yourself that if you keep saying no, there will be a yes eventually. When it does come, you instantly feel it in your gut.”

“I’ve always followed my internal compass. When someone says ‘hey, I have an opportunity for you’, I think about how it feels in my body and whether it’s like a yes or a no. You just have to keep trusting yourself that if you keep saying no, there will be a yes eventually. When it does come, you instantly feel it in your gut.”

Teresa Au chats with artist Shantell Martin about how not fitting in — growing up in London, going to art school, and living in Japan — forced her to really know herself, which in turn launched her creative career.

 

Shantell’s trademark continuous line art (she drew live while Kendrick Lamar put down beats, for example) represents her quest to understand what makes us each unique, and to find ways for us to connect to one another. Her thoughtful and confident reflections, her spirit of sharing, and her sense of adventure will inspire you in your creative journey.

 What you’ll hear on this episode:

How Shantell’s upbringing in working-class London shaped her identity

Why saying Yes to Yes and No to No is harder than it sounds

Shantell’s roundabout journey to art school and how it opened up her world

Why Japan felt more liberating to Shantell than London ever did

Shantell’s coming out story

The importance of being uncomfortable if you want to be creative

How Shantell came to live in New York

Reflections on big breaks vs. a slowly building career

Creating community amongst artists

Why lines and paths are so important to Shantell

Mentors and mentoring

Shantell’s What’s the Point? podcast

The connections between creativity and mental health

Download Shantell’s font, Shantell Sans, and make something creative. And check out Shantell’s What’s the Point? podcast to hear her interviews with Los Angeles-based artists.

 

ABOUT THE GUEST

Shantell Martin is a public speaker, intuitive philosopher, cultural facilitator, curator, choreographer, songwriter, performer, and more. From fashion and celebrity collaborations to adjunct professor positions at MIT Media Lab, NYU Tisch ITP, Columbia University’s Brown Institute, and choreographing a ballet at the Boston Ballet, Shantell’s artistic style and technique constantly evolves. Creating new connections between fine art, education, design, philosophy, and technology, Shantell explores themes such as intersectionality, identity, and play.

ABOUT THE HOST

Teresa Au is an executive for community engagement at Adobe, where she focuses on empowering creatives and students via workshops, panels, and podcasts. On creating In the Making, Teresa says “I knew I wanted to amplify the incredible personal stories of the talented and unique humans I’ve been meeting online and at our Create Now events across the world.”

Listen and subscribe to the show, and follow this link to read a full transcript of this episode. If you want to give us feedback, ask a question, or recommend a guest or topic, email us at inthemaking@adobe.com or send us a voice note!

See the full list of episodes from this season of In the Making.