The Courage to Be Uncomfortable
- Kerrigan Reyes
- Jun 15
- 5 min read
Interview with Kerrigan Reyes
1. Please tell us something about your background and your art journey so far.
When I was younger, we lived in a small house that was falling apart. We had a furnace that my brother and I would rotate from the front to our backs during winter after our showers. My mum came in one night after we had moved, and I remember asking her, “Will you be here forever?” and we had the Death talk. Afterwards, I became obsessed with death. After that talk, I remember drawing a cemetery with my teacher’s name on one of the stones. I was asked if I wanted my teacher dead, and I was shocked and said of course not! It was natural! And as an adult, I realize this was me processing death.
This led to my art showing a lot of death, self-hatred, and processing my “big” emotions. Once I became an adult, I learned I was illustrating the human experience: death, loss, uncertainty of the future, self-doubt, self-hatred, regret, shame, and guilt, etc. This became my new favorite topic, and I started to base all of my art around this.
2. Describe what a normal day looks like as an artist.
My normal day is that I wake up from a very vivid dream and start to process this dream throughout the day. What was it about? What emotions did I feel? Does this symbolize anything? As I process my dream, I learn that the dream has deeper meanings depending on what is going on in my life at the time. I start formulating ideas about how I can make this into an art piece- even if I never create it. I go: What emotion am I feeling? What colors symbolize this emotion? Okay, what is happening? How can I create this in a single snapshot that shows everything I need to say while leaving this up to be interpreted by the viewer in a general sense? Then I choose a canvas. What size feels right? I go off my instinct. When I see the right canvas size, I know in the depths of my soul that that is the size meant to portray it. The closest I can get to relating this to other things is tarot cards. Once you feel the urge to pick a specific card, you pick it. Then work it into what you need. Then, I become obsessed. I can work on art for upwards of 16 hours in one day, go to sleep, wake up, eat, and begin again. I feel it in my soul that I have to get this out, this energy inside me begging to be released. I process my dreams and emotions on a subconscious level, while consciously I have dissociated and am no longer aware of what is happening around me.
3. How does your art life impact other parts of your life?
Art impacts every part of my soul. I envision how to draw or paint the world around me as I go about my day; I “draw” in my head, and I soothe myself by picking a color and looking for that color or one close to it in the world around me. It's my coping skill and trains my brain with color recognition. Sometimes, I even try to think of what colors create that color. Is it warm? Cool? Green undertones? Magenta undertones? Etc. I envision painting scenes that happen in my life, such as saying hello to a stranger, waiting in line at a restaurant, or going grocery shopping. The art world has consumed my life and soul, and I am completely okay with this happening.
4. Could you share any difficulties and hardships you had to face in life and how or if you managed/overcame them?
A struggle I have gone through is my mental health, which is why I portray this so much in my art. I am opening the conversation to discuss my abuse, mental health issues, assaults, addiction, suicide attempts, and overdosing. I want to recreate the emotions so people can step into the shoes and feel firsthand how this felt. I need this to be raw and uncomfortable. I want to see people uncomfortable so we can discuss why. I want this to be in-your-face so there’s no “imagining the scene,” no, you are witnessing something you shouldn't. You are “witnessing” an event happen that you try to form in your head when someone says they are struggling or have gone through something traumatic. We all have done it, there is no shame! We are trying to process this information by imagining the event. I struggle with pills, but people will not understand how hard I struggle with the urges until I show them a photograph or a drawing of me shoveling them down my throat-the reality of the situation. All I want to do is open the conversation about things I have witnessed or lived.
5. Tell us about your best experience in the art world so far.
My best experience in the art world is when I won first place in a state-wide award for the Best Cover Art of a Magazine in 2023. I have the certificate framed with the magazine inside to show my art on the cover. I was completely shocked. This was the moment when I realized I am an artist. I have a future in this field. I can and will succeed. I am an artist. I have dreamed about it for years and years. I am still on cloud nine and in disbelief, and it has been 3 years! Another achievement is when I won my first international call for artists this year, 2026. I kept checking to see if I was reading the information clearly, that I wasn't just imagining things. This was real life. I was chosen out of over 400 applicants. Me. Kerrigan. I started to get more comfortable, more confident, and started applying to those I never thought I would be accepted into, but I kept getting accepted. I have been chosen, in 2026, for 10 exhibitions, 3 publications, art on YouTube, and potentially a solo exhibition. This is crazy! I never thought I would be here today, but I kept working and creating. Now, I am an internationally published and internationally exhibited artist. Keep moving forward. One baby step or crawl at a time.
6. What are you working on at the moment and are there any upcoming events you would like to talk about?
Right now, I am working on two solo exhibition artworks. One is titled This Is What Makes Me Human, and the other is The Fall of Man. This is What Makes Me Human is about my personal story through the struggles I face and the trauma I have endured to be seen as human. I show the shot I get every month for my Schizoaffective, a mouse on a wheel that represents my subconscious running endlessly but going nowhere, and a mouse stealing a cookie to represent my addiction and the things I did to sustain it. They are mostly metaphors in this series, while some are literally based on life art pieces.
The Fall of Man series is about what is happening in our world, from war to abuse to death, addiction, and mental health crises. I want people to be informed about the world that is absolutely closer than thousands of miles away, or “this would never happen here” thoughts. Real people are going through traumatic events every day that get put on TV for five seconds, then we forget about them; we don't get to see their funeral or the families wailing at the loss. We don't see the suicide attempts or what happens after if you survive. We don't see the lying or cheating, or near-death experiences, people go through to get high. We need to open the door to our houses and support our neighbors. Our world is not just the town we live in. There are billions of other lives struggling to see tomorrow.
