Check Out Kyra Coates’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kyra Coates.

Kyra, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I was born an artist. I was drawing definable objects at 18 months old. Thankfully, my mother saw my talent and fully supported me on my artistic journey. But much like life in general, it was not a straight path for me. I was always deeply moved by the suffering I saw in the world around me, and felt it was my duty to solve these problems. So when I graduated from high school, my family was shocked when I elected to go to a standard university instead of art school so I could pursue a dual degree in fine art and political science. It didn’t last long though. The pressing urge to create never relented, and I found myself in classrooms with other students whom I was far more talented. The result of this is that I was never pushed further as an artist. I needed to be in art school in order to be challenged.

So after a year I left and went on to study at the Maryland Institute, College of Art, a very prestigious art school. It was there I got the challenge I was looking for. I had no help paying for my schooling, so I had to work as a waitress while studying full time. Let me tell you, that does NOT work in art school. I had teachers expecting me to put 40 hours of work a week into their class alone. I was told by one professor that I wasn’t serious enough about my art because I was also working. The double standard was infuriating. I was literally working as much as I was in order to go to art school! I was exhausted and broke, and realized an art degree would only take me so far. So I quit in my third year, moved to Colorado, and started on my journey as a full-time artist at the age of 21.

Back then we didn’t have social media or much of the internet to sell our work. So being a full-time professional artist meant being on the road, traveling from state to state to do weekend art festivals, much like a musician tours to perform. I was so naive as a business person, I found it to be extremely challenging and stressful. I took a lot of bad advice. I had people telling me I needed to paint what had already sold over and over again. It felt so desperate and inauthentic. I finally walked away from the art world in a huff.

It was right then I had a profound spiritual experience that changed everything. I ended up being so blown open by my experience, that I quickly met a spiritual guru and left my entire life behind to become a nun in a principally Hindu tradition. I lived that lifestyle for almost three years until I realized that isolating myself and cutting myself off from basic human experiences was the opposite of integrating an enlightened mind into everyday life. So I left. I wanted to understand more deeply what my spiritual experiences were, so I went back to school at a small school called Naropa University in Boulder. It had been founded by a Tibetan Rimpoche named Chogyam Trungpa. The school offered what was called Contemplative Education, and had a fantastic Psychology program. So I completed an Interdisciplinary Degree that combined Religious Studies, Psychology, and Yoga with my focus of study being on the psychology of enlightenment as defined in multiple spiritual traditions. It was a fascinating time of growth and contemplation and directly informs the art I create today.

I returned to the art world in 2015. It was then I began focusing my art on my spiritual experiences, and psychological states of empowerment. Now I only paint what I authentically feel, and that resonates deeply with my collectors. I also have turned my art into an entire clothing line, which has been an absolute blast. I love being the most colorful one in the room when I’m wearing my designs.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I think being an artist in a capitalistic society is a huge challenge. You have to present yourself as a brand with selling power in everything you do. This can be in direct conflict with the creative process itself. I had to find a way to invent my art business to stay authentic to my own creative spirit while also running it as a business. For many years I couldn’t do that. The division was too extreme. But now people are savvier with their consumerism. People demand authenticity, meaning, and something beyond the shiny surface. I’m grateful I’ve been met in this time with my business. People who collect my art or buy my clothes truly connect with me in a meaningful way.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
My art, as a large umbrella artist statement, represents emotional and psychological experiences of spiritual awakening. I have several different series and styles of art I have created under that umbrella. I have a series titled “The Art of Feminine Power” which are generally expressionistic-style female nudes in empowering, emotional, uplifting moments. I have another abstract series that I design my clothes from. This series is a meditation in practice. The paintings paint themselves and I am just the vessel. The results are super-colorful, highly energetic pieces. I did another series with an accompanying novel called “The Journey of the In-Between” which explores the mind and ideas of identity. Its driven by the question “what remains when I die?” I was given a serious medical diagnosis several years ago that made me ponder my own mortality. I was told I was showing signs of early cognitive decline that would lead to Alzheimer’s disease. This really pushed me to explore the idea of “mind training” and what it truly means to let go and trust. The book and painting series took me two and a half years to complete. The novel is 311 pages long, and the series consists of twelve huge paintings that explore this journey. Though I have only just started putting it out into the world, it is the one I am most proud of because it has the absolute best of my painting and writing talents.

How do you think about happiness?
Watching plants grow, watching my children grow, dancing, painting, hiking, making love, singing. All these things make me happy because they are an expression of the creative force that moves everything. I love feeling 1000% alive!

Pricing:

• Clothing design run from $35 – $160
• Original art runs from $600 – $6000
• Prints of my paintings run from $50 – $1200

Contact Info:

• Website: kyracoatesart.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kyra_coates_art_infusegallery/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kyradeviart