Creative Practice & Mental Health with; Artist; Anna Langdon
I met Anna living on the beautiful south coast area around four years ago as we were both landing here. Anna is a very dear friend of mine, my partner in a lot of life's quests. Not only does Anna’s creative practice span many mediums, such as lead singer of Loose Fit, sculptor, painter, and multi-faceted designer - she also often uses her drawing as a platform to explore humanness in daily life. Her work ranges but can be exaggerated, straight up, dark, deep and a good laugh.
Age: 30
Occupation: Observer
Your creative outlet: Drawing, painting, music, sculpture, and performance
How has your creative practice benefited your mental health?
I usually find that when I'm attracted to a new medium, it's because there's something I need to learn about myself or something I need to express through that medium. I started observational drawing as a way of coping and trying to control things. The oil painting has taught me so much about letting go and self-acceptance. Playing music has helped me to really expose my vulnerabilities in order to gain strength. I think the processes I pursue in my art practice revolve around an ongoing goal to understand the limitations we place upon ourselves and interrogate the validity of those limitations. I'm interested in authenticity and seeing how close I can get to that and what that even means. Making things, exploring ideas, interrogating human existence through art, and using art forms to communicate shared experiences to others is a compulsion for me.
Learning curbs of your creative practice?
Intuition is the best guide and it's never wrong. And leave your phone behind sometimes. Solitude is necessary.
Reading, podcasts or any advice to others?
I listen to podcasts about science and the future, climate change, technology, asteroid mining and the militarisation of space, innovations in agriculture, the future of food, green building practices, new developments in material science, global economics and inequality, and things of that sort. I'm fascinated with contemporaneity; the unique experience of living in this current time. Who are we, what are we doing here and what's coming next?
