After years of blending photography with artificial intelligence, 4everKurious now finds herself blending colors, genres, and concepts. In her latest drop on Mint Gold Dust, 4everKurious unveils a series of collages featuring bold splashes of yellow, blocks of black, and emotive layers of textures. In our conversation around Blind Clarity, we discover the evolution of the self, from navigating altered egos to finding your way through the forest of creativity to producing thoughtful art pieces.
With a background in the hectic and exciting restaurant business, 4everKurious is used to balancing play with work, creativity with discipline, and passion with practicality. But as their passion projects kept them busy and drained, the need to be truly creative still burned inside. In this introspective interview, we delve into the inner struggles and contemplations that have shaped 4everKurious’ approach to art and life.
As we explore the relationship between unconscious thoughts and art, we also question whether life experiences or artistic expression come first as sources of inspiration.
Blind Clarity :: Street Art :: No. 03
Description
This piece is one of the Street Art versions of Blind Clarity.
Memoir
I recognize that clarity can stem from the darkness, from the courage to walk into the fog without a guiding light. The trick is not to lose part of yourself.
Virginia Valenzuela: It all started with “Blind Clarity,” your piece in our latest curation, “A JPEG Called Desire.” I’m really curious to know how this series came about. Did you make a ton of artworks and then pick one for the showcase, or did you make “Blind Clarity” and then riff off of that initial piece to create the others?
4everKurious: I had been working on a bunch of different series including this – I picked the one that I wanted to submit – however there has been much riffing since!
VV: Aside from the first iteration, each of these pieces incorporates a street art style, which is marked by the texture and the visual of these being posters that might be put up on a public wall. What about this series drew you to the street art style?
4eK: I recently got back from Mexico City and Oaxaca and was in love with the street art and colors. I took many photographs that are used in creating the series. Morphing certain pieces together with prompts created these images with a few different variations including the images that I created as posters and street art as art. Playing with the concept of emotions including clarity and desire I had a long runway to play with. So much so that reviewing my work over the past three years I keep seeing a thread that I have been unconsciously sewing together. That has resulted in creating a “Zine” for my work: ARTCHRONICLES. I used to do a newspaper for the restaurants called fig chronicles so it is the next chapter.
Blind Clarity :: Street Art :: No. 12
Description
This piece is one of the Street Art versions of Blind Clarity.
Memoir
This concept of “blind clarity” is my acknowledgment that true direction and purpose often come not from a detailed map or a clear view of the horizon, but from an inner conviction. It’s the leaps of faith I take, the decisions made in the face of incomplete information, and the commitment to trust in the process. I’ve learned to be at peace with the uncertainty that defines so much of the human condition. My “blind clarity” is the insightful journey I embark on without a visible roadmap, instead guided by an inner light of hope and resolve.
VV: I absolutely love the use of a golden yellow in each of these pieces, especially how you subverted the color choice in “Blind Clarity :: Street Art :: No. 12” and “Blind Clarity :: Street Art :: No. 62.” Can you tell me about that color choice?
4eK: I seem to have been using these shades of yellow and orange for a while–mustard yellow was an important color for me in the restaurants. I gravitate to these hues and late last year I did a few different collections that used a lot of yellow tones and some of these images were later used in my prompts. I often use images as part of my prompts when working in emergent properties in addition to text and variables. Depending on what my source image or images are, I get a variety of different shades. I tend to curate the ones that resonate the most.
VV: Each of these figures has a black mask across her eyes, which connects most obviously to the blindness that you refer to in the title. But it also kind of made me think of racoons, who have “masks” outlined in their fur around their eyes, but who can see perfectly; as in, it’s not a real mask, but rather one that is perceived from the outside. In this way, it feels like the pieces in this series speak to this idea between blindness and perceived blindness, or clarity and perceived clarity. Was this something you were thinking about when you made these pieces?
4eK: Interestingly one of the first series that I did in late 2020/2021 was about Masks and I seem to use this theme over and over again. When Covid came it took on a whole new meaning. I kind of think of masks as the peels of an onion that we are all made up of. These layers are different aspects of our personalities and they change as we continue to have life experiences. Removing my masks and coming back into focus is a metaphor for my seeing clearly after a period of confusion, imposter syndrome, and low confidence.
My art is serious therapy!!!
Blind Clarity :: Street Art :: No. 44
Description
This piece is one of the Street Art versions of Blind Clarity.
Memoir
I find it curious that sometimes, the more I try to see, the less clear things become. My biases, fears, and expectations can cloud my vision, making the truth elusive. In these moments, I embrace “blind faith”—a belief that there’s a form of sight beyond the eyes, one that arises from intuition and the courage to trust the unknown. I recognize that clarity can stem from the darkness, from the courage to walk into the fog without a guiding light.
VV: Many of the women you create in your artworks have piercing stares that cut through to the viewer, but in this series, I find myself drawn instead to the splashes of yellow, the blocks of black, the emotive lips. What specifically were you experimenting with that brought this new focus to light?
4eK: I think the collage aspects of some of these pieces highlight the color and textural attributes. The dichotomies of these pairings come into play as well:
Darkness and Light
Mysterious and Evocative
Recognized and Unrecognized
Singular and Split
As I have been working on my zine and churning my thoughts with chatgpt, a path of evolution emerged which really did feel like I was in therapy starting from a place of altered egos to finding my way through the forest. I think this is a journey that many take in different ways and orders. In my life I feel that this has been my inner struggle with my many years of being in the restaurant business, managing hundreds of employees and many hundreds of guests a day. It sucked a lot of my energy out and I found myself creating “creative passion projects” which were satisfying to start but only made me busier and gave me even less bandwidth. The need to be creative has always been my drive. Though it took a bit of a transition, I am getting there!
I hope this answers a bunch of what you are asking. This body of work has become like the chicken and the egg. Do the unconscious thoughts come first or the art? Do life journeys come first and then the art OR does the ART bring out all of the emotions to the top?
Blind Clarity :: Street Art :: No. 62
Description
This piece is one of the Street Art versions of Blind Clarity.
Memoir
It’s the leaps of faith I take, the decisions made in the face of incomplete information, and the commitment to trust in the process. I’ve learned to be at peace with the uncertainty that defines so much of the human condition. My “blind clarity” is the insightful journey I embark on without a visible roadmap, instead guided by an inner light of hope and resolve.
Ultimately, the journey of self-discovery and creative expression is a deeply personal and ever-evolving one. There is no one-size-fits-all answer to the question of what comes first – unconscious thoughts or art? Instead, it is a constantly shifting balance, influenced by experiences and perspectives that are unique to each individual.
Through experimentation with art and emerging technologies, 4everKurious has found new focus and a deeper understanding of herself. The dichotomies present in her work reflect the complexities of life and the inner struggles we all face. As she continues to explore and evolve, we are taken along for the ride, invited to contemplate our own journeys and connections with art and technology.