I LIKE this illustrator.
Here’s why:
Oh Boy! (or girl, or they/them) You are all in for a real treat! If you haven’t seen it, let me be the first to introduce you to the amazing work of Kobie Nieuwoudt.
Her work, specifically her animations, are genius in their simplicity. Only a true artist could make modern illustration look so effortless. There is a common thread of basic human awkwardness, but ok-ness throughout her work and I catch myself smiling every time. A moment of happy.
A while back I read an interview of hers with Design Indaba, an online design publication based in Cape Town where she resides. In it, she said something that rang true for me, someone who has always worked in the creative field.
“I would say the biggest challenge for me lately – and I don't think I'm alone here – is to separate what I do from who I am as a person. If someone asks me what I do, I identify myself as an illustrator.
There is some truth in the phrases “you are what you do”, but it can land you in a tricky spot because all creative minds become exhausted. I think it's crucial not to connect your personal identity with the work you produce. If you can’t create something of substance, then who are you?”
Recently, I found myself in a situation where I was constantly expected to generate ideas (and good ones). Like I was some sort of “Idea Vending Machine” that anyone could shake and rock and get one to fall without much investment on their part. I would spit an idea out, quickly solving a particular challenge only to turn around and welcome yet another one…“Hey you got a second?” This would sometimes happen in 15 minute intervals, for 9 hours straight. Every day.
To my surprise and (quite frankly) amazement, my brain kept up—it kept producing. At the time, I thought I had accomplished all I had set out to do in my 20 year career…people were benefitting from my ideas and they even liked me for it!
But to Kobie’s point, I reached a place where I was utterly exhausted. So much so that I didn’t even have the energy to recognize it. I would sleep for hours during the day on the weekends. I began to have severe migraines and lived in a constant state of adrenaline. Wherever I looked I couldn’t really see. When I had time off, I was blinded by a blurry gray haze that was sometimes interrupted with jabs of sharpness because Nothing was stabbing me. My jaw hurt from clenching even in a moment when I thought I was feeling happy. My neck hurt from looking for something forward. The backs of my eyelids were the most comfortable place to be because I was allowed to turn “off”. I also wasn’t being a very nice person anymore.
Please don’t misunderstand, I am not complaining. I can’t…I was lucky to feel so needed…and necessary…and important, especially in 2020. But once I removed myself from that situation I felt a lot better physically. However, I caught myself wondering who I was—without people needing my ideas.
I found myself in a place of “I am what I do” just like Kobie talked about. And, when the “do” went away in the way that I was “doing” it, I was left thinking “shit, who am I now?” But after some time, I realized that doing all that I was doing wasn’t any different than not doing it. I was still me.
And so now here I sit. In my non-distracted me-ness. I have time to not only appreciate Kobie’s work but to write about it. To give her—a stranger whose creativity makes me happy—a moment of my time. And that makes me even more happy. And who knows, if she ever stumbles upon this in some odd SEO-happen-stance-cross-paths-kind-of-way, then maybe this story would make her happy for a moment. And, then maybe sharing these illustrations with you— my Fellow-Likers—give you a moment of happy? And, all these moments of happiness happen by just having more me moments. Whew! And side bar: I have fewer headaches!
So BIG wins all around. And with that I will leave you with a happy dance, or hell, why not two? I have the time! Thanks Kobie!
