Context and Culture
“The most impactful work frequently emerges when we step aside but stay present, crafting space for others to step forward.”
Every artist creates inside a web of inheritances — cultural defaults, aesthetic norms, and unspoken rules that shape our instincts before we even notice them. This chapter invites you to see those frames clearly, to trace where they came from, and to decide which to keep, stretch, or dismantle. Through noticing, questioning, and reimagining, you’ll find more freedom in your choices — and more precision in the worlds you create.
Featuring a contribution by Brenda Dixon Gottschild
“What happens if you center joy, not as a reward, but as the method?”