A Journey Through Distortion | Places, Faces and Spaces I Have Occupied | Maya Davis Stokes | Artist

Inside the hustle of a modern artist! 🎨✨

Last week, I had the absolute pleasure of sitting down with the incredibly talented Maya Davis-Stokes to talk all things art, ambition, and the reality of the creative grind. We caught up against the brilliant, vibrant backdrop of the Stryx Cafe in Birmingham's Jewellery Quarter to discuss her latest exhibition, Places, Faces and Spaces I have Occupied. It is open until the 30th March so you'd better get in quick to see it!

This wasn't just a chat about her stunning visuals; it was a deep dive into what it actually takes to survive and thrive as an artist in the modern age. We explored the inspiration behind her current projects, the deeply personal themes woven into her exhibition, and the sheer, undeniable hustle required to get your work seen right now.

Maya's work ethic and creative vision are nothing short of inspiring. If you are a fellow creative trying to navigate the art world, or simply someone who loves discovering exciting local talent, you are going to want to soak up every bit of advice and insight she shared in this interview!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lyuxw6vJpE

TRANSCRIPT

Last week I caught up with Maya Davis-Stokes and her exhibition called Places, Faces and Spaces I Have Occupied. This is the interview with her, we had such fun. First tell us a bit about yourself, your current exhibition and what has sort of inspired it.

So I'm Maya Davis-Stokes, I'm an artist. This is my solo show called Places, Spaces and Faces I Have Occupied. It's mostly autobiographical work about my life.

It's fragmented bits, kind of patchwork together, a lot of distortion, a lot of my crazy story of my life. So yeah, that's the kind of basis of how I started. I created the first three pieces down there as part of Winterfolk exhibition, which was from Solihull College, the boot camp, get gallery ready boot camp that I did.

The theme was Winterfolk and my parents met in Denmark, so that was kind of the initial starting point. And then after the boot camp, I decided to kind of carry on because I knew I had this solo show coming up. So I thought it'd be interesting to kind of carry on the story and focus on different aspects of my life.

So that was basically the starting point. Brilliant. And why have you chosen to tell it in oil paints and lino cut? So I've been reconnecting with oil paints since about September.

I've had a studio here in Strix for about a year now, just over a year. Initially, I was in the mothership studio and I brought my daughter with me. There's lots of babies and toddlers around, so I didn't want to use oil paints up there.

So when I got my own studio space downstairs, basically, I could start using oils and experimenting with chemicals and things again. It was kind of using that space because at home and around children, I didn't want to use it. So it's part of my reconnection to my artistic practise to explore oil again.

And also, it was a kind of attempt to myself at trying to slow down because I'm quite quick working. Yeah. And with acrylic paints, I could, you know, a couple of hours, I could bang out a painting.

So oil kind of made me slow down a bit. I'm still quite fast in producing work. But yeah, it was an attempt to slow down, I think.

And what are some of your favourite artists who inspires your work? Sort of two different questions, really. Yeah. There's a lot of artists that inspire my work.

I think Francis Bacon, with the way he does distortion definitely kind of led towards the work I've been doing recently. Also kind of Frida Kahlo with her self-portraits and the kind of surrealist things. But yeah, there's a lot of different artists that inspire me for different reasons.

And have you always worked with distortion? Or is this a new sort of venture? It's fairly, it's probably about a year old. This is a project. It initially started as a sketchbook exercise of me drawing, kind of blindly looking at the reference image or the mirror and not at the paper or the canvas.

So that started as a sketchbook exercise to kind of warm me up and loosen me up a bit before starting to produce work. But that kind of developed into my practise more. And it was kind of thinking about how things can get distorted easily if you only look at them from one angle.

So yeah, so that's basically how it started and developed and thinking about social media and how people are fed algorithms and things that tend to be given things that they agree with. And it kind of radicalises them in a way where they just see more of that stuff that they already agree with. And they're not seeing the full picture, they are seeing a distorted image of things quite often.

And myself as an Israeli, I'm half Israeli, so I know a lot of people kind of tend to see one side of things with the conflict and things. Yeah, absolutely. And I think the awesome thing about your work, having seen it at the International Women's Gallery over in the Albany, because it's so different, it stands out from the other pieces next to it because of the distortion, you do spend that time looking at it and thinking about it.

Yeah, I think so. Right, we're going to move on to your professional journey. Okay.

So do you have any professional training or are you a self-taught artist? So I went to university many years ago and did a fine art degree. But life kind of happened, as it does. And I had to work normal jobs for many years to kind of pay the bills and things.

About a year and a half ago, I had to stop doing that because of my health. I've got chronic health conditions. So it meant that I couldn't work because my health isn't always reliable.

So it meant that I could reconnect with my artistic practise, which I started doing first from bed with kind of iPad drawing and things. And then I started coming here to Strix and then I got the studio here. So that's kind of about a year reconnecting properly.

And where did you do your degree? In Buckinghamshire New University, which doesn't have any creative courses. I think they have minimal creative courses because most of them close down so they don't have a fine art degree anymore. That's what happened to my uni in Edinburgh.

They closed down all the creative courses and lost their conservator status. It was very sad. Did it sort of set you up for how to be an artist or was it very much about the history of art? I don't think either really.

I think it taught us how to produce work and talk about our work. It helped, you know, group crits and talking about our work. That level definitely helped, but I don't think it helped me be a professional artist.

I think the boot camp that I did recently more so. And I think art seems more accessible now than it did when I finished uni. It was internships and a lot of things where you had to kind of work for free.

There weren't open calls and funding opportunities like there are now. There seems to be a lot more available for artists. So yeah, just social media wasn't such a big thing either when I finished, so it was definitely not as accessible as it is now.

And I think Birmingham has got a thriving art scene. There's a lot going on creatively. And a lot of that is shifting from Digbeth over to the Jewellery Quarter now.

Yeah, and just generally. Yeah. Fab.

So do you do this full-time as and when your body allows? Yes, I do it full-time. I tend to come to the studio once or twice a week, but when I'm not here I'm usually working on social media content, researching, organising stuff, doing all the rest of the kind of behind the scenes work. Your social media is on it.

You come across a lot of people who just sort of post every now and again, but you are consistent all over it. Yeah. And do you run sort of workshops? Do you offer commissions? So I did a workshop this weekend, just gone, which I did a children's workshop printmaking.

But again, I've done a couple of workshops, but it's not a regular thing. Yeah. And did you get funding for that or did you do it alongside sticks? Just because you wanted to.

Just because. But I have done workshops that I've been paid for. Yeah.

Yeah. Commissions. I've done some in the past, but it's not always.

It's not what drives you. No. No.

And do you have any other ways of supporting yourself? Not at the moment. Yeah. Amazing.

And why did you choose Strix to be your studio gallery space? I just felt at home as soon as I came here. It's a very accessible space, but not in a way that I've been to some spaces and they're too accessible. This feels elevated, but in a way that's accessible and comfortable.

It's run by women that are mothers who are neurodivergent, who are artists themselves. So it just feels friendly. It feels homely.

Yeah. And do you feel like it's better to have a studio space as a new artist who's developing rather than trying to work from home? I think working from home does limit your practise. It limits the size.

It limits what you use. I mean, if you're a single person with no kids and you can just use your living room space as a studio space, then that's great. And I know people that do that and that's great for them.

That's not an option with me. No, that's not an option for me. I think for me as well, because I spend a lot of time in bed with my chronic health conditions, it's nice to come out and come to a different space and feel like I'm a professional artist with a proper job.

I'm absolutely seeing it on its best day as well. It's so beautiful in the sun. It's definitely lovely to see it in the sunshine.

It wasn't the same a few weeks ago when it was snowing. And how do you balance the business side of being an artist and all of your hustle with the actual painting and your social media, your application for grants and funding, taxes, all of that jazz? I'm kind of always working a little bit. I haven't got the balance right, but I do.

I rest in between things. In my mind, I want to have more structured, like this is the time I'm working and this is the time I'm not working. But that doesn't work for me.

No, I know what you mean. It's when I have the energy, when I think the thought, I need to do the thing. I'm neurodivergent as well, so it's a case of when I think of it, I need to do it.

When you find yourself in the mood as well, you're like, oh, I've got to latch onto this. How do you approach networking as an up-and-coming artist in Birmingham? I think it's very important. Social media is important.

I tend to engage with people on social media, going to events, going to private views and talking. I think it's really important to sit and talk to people, especially gallerists, especially curators, different people who are just people as well. I think it's important to remember because I think a lot of us think, oh, scary gallerist.

But actually, if you sit down and have a cup of coffee with someone and have a chat, then they are more likely to do things for you. They can see you're a nice person and a real person. I've experienced it when I've been sat having a talk with someone and another artist has dropped their work and run away.

That's fine if that's who you are, but I feel like they'll give you more opportunities if you engage with them. You give them context. Also, when you promote someone on social media, they'll promote you.

If you do something for someone, they will help you. I like that you feel the community vibes. A lot of people think that sharing other people on social media will be detrimental.

It's not. It's beneficial for both people. On to your personal growth, how has your artistic voice changed since all those years ago at uni? It's certainly developed.

I think I'm doing a lot of the same underlying work that I was doing, but it's definitely evolved. Even in the case of things I did a couple of months ago, I'm like, ooh, that's not as good as what I've done recently. There's definitely development happening.

I'm still planning a thousand different things in my head at the moment that I'm about to work on. I think it's a constant evolution, really. Are you going to continue to explore distortion in different ways? Yeah, possibly.

I'm working on some collaborations with people coming up soon as well. I'm going to have joint exhibitions with different people. Fantastic.

What does a successful day in the studio look like to you? It depends on the day and what I want to achieve. I think beforehand what I want to achieve, but usually getting to a certain point with a painting or starting something. How long does it take you to produce one of the paintings that are in here? I'm not sure.

I tend to work on a few pieces at a time. I'll do a little bit on that one, move it around, get the next one. I tend to do quite a lot in the couple of hours that I'm here.

I tend to accomplish what I want to. What additional skills like business knowledge or marketing or networking, archiving, that type of thing do you think are integral when you're an artist? Definitely marketing, networking. All of those are very important.

Again, we didn't really get taught any of that at university. Things were very different back then. We basically got taught to make a website, but not really what goes on it or how to do it.

We built one on Microsoft Publisher. I think we used Weebly.com or something really old school. Social media wasn't such a big thing back then.

It was Facebook and people weren't really doing that much on Facebook. I don't think they taught you. Yeah, definitely marketing.

We didn't really. My teacher told me to take good quality pictures of my work, but that was about it. What platforms do you find work best for you? I think Instagram works the best.

I also share work on TikTok a lot. I tend to find people on TikTok and then bring them across to Instagram. It's weird.

I found TikTok gives you a boost because you get more views and it's quite good for networking on, but I don't know if the likes necessarily translate to who the target audience is. No, but I feel like it is definitely a good platform to find people. I definitely have a community there and there's certain ones which I've then brought onto Instagram and brought into my real life.

I feel like Instagram's more real world. I know exactly what you mean. Do you recommend that artists procure a studio space? What sort of budget should they be looking at for things like that? I'd say it depends on your practise because obviously not all artists are painters and need to produce physical things.

Some don't need that physical space, but personally, I think it's important to have a studio space. I think even for your mental health, there's a detachment from your home base. I know some photographers and stuff might go work in a cafe on their laptop and things like that, but I think it's important to have a dedicated space, which is yours for just creating.

Budget-wise, it's so varied. Even in the Midlands, it's so varied. There are cheaper spaces, but sometimes cheaper spaces have different obstacles.

I know some people have cheaper spaces that they can only use during office hours or it's a temporary space and it might be just for a few months or something. Do you have the flexibility here when you can work when you want then? Yeah, I have the flexibility. I can come and go when I want.

Obviously, being as part of a gallery, because we've got the gallery here, we've also got a gallery in Digbys. Yeah. So I think it helps being part of that creative space and having opportunities.

I definitely had exhibition opportunities just from being here and talking to people. Brilliant, and you have done a lot of exhibitions over the last... an amazing amount. Yeah, out of nowhere.

No exhibitions for 10 years and then... You've been kind of scrappy the last year and a half. How have you managed it? With difficulty. Just applying for things, talking to people.

As I said, people are people. And initially, when I joined here, I didn't have the confidence to talk to people, but it was building that online presence, talking to people, like I said, as they're humans, that definitely helped a lot. And once you've got over the awkward sort of, oh, hello, I'm such and such.

Then like you say, you do realise that they are also just a person. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And everyone kind of has that imposter syndrome.

Everyone has that, oh, I don't know if what we're doing is right. I don't know if it's going to make money. I don't know.

Even gallerists think that, even everyone. But I think it's helped kind of being seen around Birmingham, being, talking to people and applying for open calls, applying, talking, all those things. So what have been your favourite galleries that you've exhibitioned at? I really like Seventh Circle in Digbeth.

Nice. I've got a collab coming up soon there in August. This one, obviously.

This one, obviously, yeah. Strix, we love it. And Strix in Digbeth, we love as well.

Eastside Projects, I was part of their summer show. Amazing. That's a really nice space, really big space.

There's just lots of nice spaces around the West Midlands. You just need to look for them, I guess. Yeah, I think I counted, I'm doing seven exhibitions this month, including my solo show.

So yeah, definitely busy. We've got this space in Resorts World. I don't know if you know about that.

No, where's that? There's a pop-up gallery in Resorts World, and we've got the private view this Friday. You can probably contact people if you want to come to the private view. Yeah, we'll have a look and see.

I had no idea. So you know, in Resorts World, there's that space and it's got all the heights of the different people. It's in there, and it's quite a big space.

They're going to be doing workshops in there, and there's a pop-up gallery with a lot of artwork. Ruth, who I mentioned earlier, she's selected the work and someone else is curating it. So it's going to be really nice.

It's nice to get something in such a corporate feeling space. I think it has a lot of footfall there. People come for NEC and for concerts and things.

So hopefully there's going to be a lot of people seeing our work. Amazing. And finally, what is the best piece of advice you would give to an aspiring young artist or old artist, whatever age artist? Just get out there, because that's the scariest thing, is to actually put yourself out there and engage with other people and say, look, I am an artist.

I am here. It's scary, but it's simple. And it's actually just do it.

Yeah. Amazing. Thank you so much.

That's okay.