Today we’d like to introduce you to Esther Kovacs.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Esther. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I am a self-taught artist and art activist, previously confining my work to about 16 years of sketch-journals. A few years ago I was invited to exhibit my work at a local art show. Nervous and shy at first, I realized that sharing my work felt very fulfilling and I haven’t stopped since. I say that I am “on the verge of spontaneous combustion” because I am an idea machine. Art is my outlet because it allows me to express ideas and concepts without having to wait on anyone else to make it happen. Now I do shows fairly regularly and I work on trying to bring to life as many ideas as possible from the library of images I store in my head. A series that I started at the end of 2016 ultimately lead me to start a local nonprofit, The My Body, My Choice Project, along with co-directors, Diamond Weems (Red Bella) and Joslyn-Marie Alvarado. We raise funding for local women’s health organizations through the sale of apparel featuring empowering artwork and spread a message of strength, sisterhood, and solidarity to women. I have a background in studying neuroscience and practicing holistic health so, personally, this nonprofit is a bridge between my art and holistic health worlds.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
I have always enjoyed doing art for my own personal fulfillment and allowing myself to be authentic in knowing that I am going to be sharing my work rather than keeping it personal has been an act of vulnerability. I think that has been the hardest part. There is always the gritty business end to deal with – managing the financial aspect and figuring out how to make a living doing what you love – but being a private individual, I’ve had to push myself in both using social media authentically and giving voice to my personal stories that appear in my artwork. I prefer to stay in the background, letting my work speak for myself in my artwork, and, in the case of the nonprofit, providing a platform for movement and story-telling around intersectional feminism, rather than being in the foreground. I think there is a certain amount of voice that you have to use with each endeavor and also figure out where and when it is best to use that voice. Balancing authenticity and this voice has been my biggest struggle.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Es Seniya Art story. Tell us more about the business.
As an artist I think I settle into the style of abstract surrealism. My work ranges from very colorful, mixed media with incorporation of a few symbols I tend to gravitate toward to more simple, black and white folk portraits interwoven with lines of poetry. The folk portrait style with poetry comes from keeping sketch journals where I naturally combined art and writing into one space. For painting I prefer to use materials that I consider more accessible, like wood, drywall, and mirrors. However, what I am moving toward doing more of is what I call “living art” which is fairly close to what installation art looks like except that it shifts and moves in and off of walls, telling a story. I’m excited for upcoming opportunities in that area. “Living art” is something I’ve wanted to do for a long time and as I’ve allowed myself to take myself more seriously as an artist, I’ve made more room for creating this type of art.
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
I don’t really believe in luck. I believe in creating gravity toward certain types of experiences based on how you grow your thoughts. I believe in lessons and I believe in journeys. About a decade ago I spent a month practicing intensive meditation on a mountain top outside of Chiang Mai. My monk teacher told a story about luck. The man in his story went through a series of experiences and with each experience the man’s community would term his experience as either “good luck” or “bad luck.” The man stayed unmoved. As each experience passed the next one revealed the previous one as the opposite it had been labelled- bad luck became good, good became bad, and so on. I think I’m blessed to be able to live the experiences I have as an entrepreneur. They haven’t been easy but I’m grateful for the opportunities I’ve had and continue to make. At the end of the day, I care about learning, creating, and impacting my community in a positive way and I’ll take the experiences I have to go through to get there.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.es-seniya-art.com, www.themybodymychoiceproject.com
- Email: es.seniya.art@gmail.com
- Instagram: es_seniya
- Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/esSeniyaArt/
Image Credit:
The My Body, My Choice Project photo: with other two directors (left to right)- Diamond Weems (Red Bella) & Joslyn-Marie Alvarado, photo taken by Melissa Ferrara of Iron + Honey PhotographyPhoto of me: taken by Joslyn-Marie Alvarado of Secret Heart Photography
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