No two people are the same.
We share broad strokes. But the specific texture of how each person experiences life is entirely their own. The way you see the world is unlike anyone else’s. And art, in its purest form, is the act of expressing that. This is why the most honest art tends to be the most unique. If you are truly expressing what is inside you, then what comes out will naturally be unlike anything else.
Because you are unlike anything else.
The deeper you go into your own experience, the stranger it gets. The harder it becomes to categorize. The less it looks like what everyone else is making. And that’s not a problem. That’s the point.
When you see things that are mass produced, that feel safe and easily digestible, it’s not self expression. It’s a product. It’s built from the common denominators of human experience - the broad strokes, the things that are “in”, the things that are easy to feel and easy to sell. And there’s nothing wrong with that on its own. But it’s not art in the way that matters. Because art isn’t about reaching the widest audience. It’s about reaching the deepest parts of yourself.
The mass desire isn’t art. It’s escapism. And the moment you start creating for that, it’s no longer art. The logic flips.
It goes from:
what do I feel and how do I express that
to:
what will sell and how do I create that
The intention behind it changes. And intention is everything.
You stand in front of your own work and you cannot tell if it’s good. Sometimes you think you’ve come close to what you wanted it to be. Other times you feel you’ve entirely missed the mark. All you can do is put strokes on a page and hope that some of these arrows hit their targets. But here’s the thing - the arrows aren’t aimed at the audience. They’re aimed at the feelings inside of you. The ones that are always evolving, always incomplete.
This is what creation is. The act of making your inner world visible. The people who make the most abstract art truly seem to be the weirdest. The most misunderstood. The most interesting. Because their inner world is so layered that simple forms can’t contain it. Nothing communicates complexity better than art.
Everyone wants to be seen. To be understood. To not be alone. And words are only so good. Some people express themselves through poetry, others through music, others through painting. But the drive is the same - a desire to make your soul visible.
So the question becomes: who are you creating for? If the answer is other people, then what you’re making is a product. It might be good. It might be successful. But it’s not purely self expression. It’s manipulated expression. You’re bending what’s inside you to fit what’s outside you. And the moment you do that, something is lost. The art is no longer a window into your soul. It’s a mirror held up to the audience, showing them what they already want to see.
Create for yourself. Let the art breathe. Let your hand move itself. Express what is actually inside you - the weird, the abstract, the incomprehensible. Because art is strange in the same way life is. And that’s exactly why it resonates. Not because it makes sense, but because it makes your nonsense feel seen.
And if other people like it along the way? That’s a bonus. But it should never be the objective.
The only audience for your art is you.