by Julian Ryder, Founder + Chief Creative Officer
Heaven is a Traffic Jam on the 405 is the 2018 Academy Award winner for Best Documentary Short. The film was written and directed by Frank Stiefel. It's a 40-minute portrait of 57-year-old Mindy Alper, a talented Los Angeles artist who has lived with depression and anxiety most of her life.
Mindy creates amazing sculptures and extraordinary, thought provoking imagery, all while her challenging circumstances tag along. She’s smart, thoughtful and articulate. I would describe her as someone who channels her neural misfirings into extraordinary ideas and concepts. Her artwork in one instance powerfully reimagines her internal struggles and in another depicts the love and affection she has for others – How many therapists can claim to have a nine foot bust made by their patient?
While she uses multiple medications to manage her mental state, she uses wire, newspaper, paint and ink to manage her creative state. No doubt Mindy got dealt a bad hand on the mental side of things, however, what she’s done on the creative side is nothing short of amazing.
Creativity doesn't care about your circumstances, it only cares that it gets expressed. How might you express your creativity within the circumstances of your life?