I’m sitting with Jessica Hazell, an Australian artist who encapsulates the beauty that is the human body via oil paint while working at a coffee shop in East London, as well as Alex Beighton, a Leicester native working part time in a clothing shop while he focuses on his incredibly emotional but unbelievably catchy music under the alias: “Anxious Manchild”.
Alex, with his aqua blue hair (which by the way, matches his guitar) and Jess met over a year ago, and in the this very warehouse. After a few months, the pair became romantically involved and have been together ever since. I feel as if I have seen them both thrive not only as individuals, but as creatives during my time sharing the space with them. So, I sat down with both of them individually (and together) to talk to them about what it means be a creative, the challenges of being a young creative in one of the most expensive cities in the world, and how they encourage and motivate one another not just with everyday life, but with one another’s work.
Jessica Hazell is a painter who specialises in oils to paint portraits and people, aiming to illustrate the emotions of her subjects through movement and colours. From concepts such as social resistance to female empowerment being the goal of discussions she wants to arise from her art, Jess strongly emphasizes that: “like my tattoos, they don’t always mean anything.”
While sitting on the floor of her at home studio putting the finishing touches on a painting of the back of nude woman, I ask her about the terms “creative” and “creativity” – and what they mean to her. “In 2018, being a creative is definitely portrayed as a competitive career… but I believe being a creative is having your own individual mind…it’s a loose term. For creativity – it’s just harnessing the individuality of your own mind… not per se making something.” I ask her if she feels whether identity and creativity are tied, and if she has ever defined herself through her creative activities. “I guess I have, just because it’s such a huge aspect of my life… a lot of my work carries my own issues and ideas.”
But being young, creative, slightly broke and living in London proves to be both incredible and extremely challenging. “It’s f**king monstrous and brutal…just not knowing where to start and seeing how damn big it is. It’s so competitive because everyone is here trying to get to the top of this arbitrary creative ladder that shouldn’t even exist… not to mention how expensive it is – I have no money for paints, let alone rent”, Jess admits. In a new generation where creativity is finally taken seriously and no longer treated purely as “just a hobby”, Jess still admits that she feels that her desire to turn her creativity into a career still isn’t taken seriously. “Art, although it’s come a long way in sincerity and credibility, is still treated with a dreamlike and unrealistic attitude.”
So, what about, the music world? Alex Beighton, also known as musician “Anxious Manchild” has similar but different views to Jess on the concept of creativity, identity and being in London as a young creative. Having previously studied menswear design a few years ago but realising it wasn’t for him, he decided to focus on his music. He released his debut album: “PSILOCYBIN” back in October, with it making the rounds globally – including being played in Canada. Alex has a lot to say on the concept of creativity and identity.
“It’s the same as breathing – it’s just something that I have to do or else I go a bit insane”, he responds when I ask him about his relationship with the definition “creative”. “I mean, my act is called ‘Anxious Manchild’ which is basically what I am, and most of my songs are about my life. I have defined my identity by my creativity. I don’t think people understand how important it is to some people.” What about his thoughts on the difference between each generation’s perception on creativity? “I don’t think creativity itself is different, I just think the way people use it is different now. Like, my parents don’t take pictures of their dinner and put it on Instagram.” And the actual concept of creativity? Does he, like Jess, also believe it is simply “harnessing the individuality of your own mind?” Not quite. “It’s just seeing things differently and putting your view across – that could be the way you make a sandwich or the way you play guitar”. But like Jess, he also agrees that London is extremely, and “all your money goes on rent! But everything is here and there’s a lot of amazing people.”
When the three of us sit down all together to discuss the pair’s creative involvement in one another’s lives, I can see how the couple get on so well. With Jess’ no BS attitude and Alex’s light-heartedness, they balance each other not only in real life, but in their creative lives too.
Tala: Do you encourage each other’s creativity?
Jess: Yeah, I think so. It’s like anger a lot…because we ask each other: “why the f**k aren’t you doing this or that?”, it’s just caring I think-
Alex: We sort of egg each other on… It’s like me moaning I haven’t done something, and Jess is like: “Well, why haven’t you f**king done it?” And vice versa really.
Tala: Do you think that comes down to both of you being creative, because you both understand what creativity is?
Jess: It might just be our personalities as well.
Alex: Yeah, but it’s hard to be creative all the time – it’s not possible to be f**king creative 24/7.
Jess: It’s like trying to be happy all the time. But sometimes it’s not just encouraging it, but its telling you when to stop when you need to as well.
Tala: Do you ever ask or provide honest criticism from each other about your work?
Jess: We always ask for it.
Alex: You’re (to Jess) pretty good. I usually go to Jess nearly all the time for my songs – just for a different set of ears to hear things differently.
Tala: And how often do you give each other feedback, or get involved in each other’s creative lives?
Jess: It’s different because they’re different creative platforms. He puts out a lot more than I do because they’re different platforms.
Alex: Yeah. Like, I can make songs/samples that are 20 seconds long that may never make it out into the world, but I’ll ask Jess what she thinks of it. But Jess can do a full painting or a pretty detailed sketch and ask me what I’ll think.
Jess: Yeah… I think we’re more involved in the motivation and feedback aspect with each other’s creative lives more than anything else.
Alex: We do chat about ideas as well though, and always show each other musicians or artists that we think the other may like.
Tala: That’s great. Do you feel like the fact you’re both creative brings a sense of understanding to both of you as a couple?
Jess: It’s definitely a good conversation topic, it makes us talk about everything-
Alex: I think it’s both. It also helps us understand each other’s mind-sets. Sometimes when I’m in the mood to just lock myself in our bedroom and make music for eight hours and don’t really want hang out – she gets it. I feel like in some relationships, some partners might be offended…
Jess: And I’m kind of the same, where when I feel like that I can just go into my little studio space and paint for eight hours too – it works the same for both of us. We both have our own lives too. We are competitive as people, but it’s more motivation than a competition.
All in all, these next-gen creatives have a very bright and exciting creative life ahead of them, discussing the realities of expenses, the difference between motivation and competition and ultimately, their experiences being a young creative couple in 2018. I have learnt so much from both of them not only from them, but from their respective creative platforms – and I think you would too.
You can find both Jessica Hazell and Alex Beighton on Instagram: @jesshazellart and @anxiousmanchild.