The Rawest Form of Expression

Disease, face masks, and the continued display of violence and injustice around the globe make up the ingredients for the current state of society. Because of these happenings there is a collective anxiety felt among the rising leaders of the world. How have people coped with this anxiety? Well, for some, through art. For Rihana Young, her art is her very existence. For Ron Williamson, his art is rapping and singing. For Kenely Torres, his art is painting, drawing and tattooing. Not everyone has to become a professional artist; but the inherent ability to make art should be encouraged as hobby and therapy. This therapy can not only benefit an individual’s therapy, but it can trickle down into a positive community experience. The artists I interviewed attest to this statement and have experienced tremendous growth during these trying times.


ETHERIA

Rhiana Young, also known as Etheria is a 20 year-old black female artist from Rockaway, NJ and is a member of Artists Supporting Artists in Newark. Her artist name, Etheria, translates to “a theory of” someone who heals and loves everything and everyone she touches. Etheria sings, raps, dances, is a self-taught pianist, paints, draws, and writes poetry. She also owns H.E.R. Yoni (Healing, Evolving, and Respecting oneself and their Yoni), an LLC dedicated to reproductive and spiritual health. These products are available to everyone, but as a black woman herself, she targets women of color. 

During the interview, Etheria recalled the distress of being rushed out of the dorm with little to no time to pack and make arrangements resulted in a physical loss of her voice box. This was frustrating because for her, singing transmits vibrations of energy flow out of the body which is magic. She spit some lyrics, “Let me cast a spell with my lyrical flow cuz they don’t call it spelling for no reason.” Singing connects her to her past lives and ancestral roots. Even when she has pain, “it is a beautiful cry or scream.' This time has forced her to explore and learn about herself. She said with a smile, “whether I like it or not...growth is not always pretty.” Etheria explains that being an artist opens her up to consciously being sensitive, sensual and connected in a positive and productive way. Art as therapy is an individual effort to have a conversation with ourselves. According to Etheria, if we want to be successful, produce healthy children, stop harmful routines, end past/generational trauma, find love and stop harming, art can be a solution. “Health is wealth,” she says, and we must feed our mind, body and soul, by being aware and creating relationships. So, even in the darkest times she advises us to practice our crafts every day and attend therapy as it is important to hear the opinion of an unbiased third party. 


KENDOG

Kenely Torres uses art as that unbiased third party. Kendog is 28, born in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, and raised in Newark, NJ. He identifies as a fine artist at heart, but makes his money tattooing at ADU Ink in East Orange, NJ. Kendog’s artistic career was inspired by his parents, who he refers to as folk artists, and the painful experiences of life. He admitted, “If it wasn't for art, I don't think I would be alive right now.” 

Because of the mandatory quarantine, Kendog dove deeper into his art, which solidified things he had already known. In the beginning of his career, he met people who told  him he would never make it. Nonetheless, art was an itch he could not stop scratching. His response to the opposition was that , “...it was not about being good, it was about getting my mental health in order and finding peace.'' He says art is a therapeutic stress reliever like getting a massage, and it kept him sane even when people thought he was insane. 

Kendog finds balance in his two art mediums; he can go wild with painting and, through collaboration with clients to design their tattoos, he can bring joy to others. With patience and compromise, he understands that his mission is to bring therapy to others through his art and spread love. When I ask him how he will move forward as an artist after the world has “normalized,” he answers, “I got the power, now do I want to be a superhero or a supervillain?” He will continue to spread love and light with his art. 


RON SOLEMN

Ron Williamson, also known as Ron Solemn, is a 24 year old rapper and singer from Hillside, NJ. His name, Solemn, pays homage to where he was within himself when his career began 7 years ago. He originally disliked performing, which made him very nervous, but in 2019, there was an unexplainable switch. This newfound love would have been beneficial in his goal to tour the country in 2020, but quarantine happened. So he adapted and grew.

He recalled how he struggled with depression and anxiety in his last year of high school. In the black community, mental health is often stigmatized and disregarded as an illegitimate issue, which Solemn works to address in his music. A little voice inside his head told him to pick up a mic and deal with the dark emotions. He joked that he spent a lot of his life fighting this little voice so he finally submitted to it. 

Ron Williamson is a quiet and monotone person, but, as Ron Solemn, he is loud and screaming with a feeling of rushing joy. During this quarantine, he discovered his heart was in performance, how focused he was and how determined he was. As he gets older, he sees that his art should highlight the good in life and expose his inner strength. He told himself that life is unpredictable so he must adapt.

Solemn constructed a wooden recording booth in order to avoid socializing before the pandemic. Ironically enough, he has found himself collaborating through the media more now than ever. This reminds me of Etheria’s words, “Don't let anxiety and nerves stop you from connecting with other people...don't let ego disrupt beingness.” 

Solemn says, “Everyone loves and appreciates art but downs it…everyone is scrolling to be entertained.” Both Ron Solemn and Kendogg express their hope for more art appreciation and programs in school, which are often the first to be cut when there are budget restrictions. To this Ron Solemn half-jokingly replies, “If you strip away art your life is going to be boring as hell.”

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