The reasons that artists make art differ for each individual, and through this new and ongoing series, we want to explore them all. The Omega is interested in talking to diverse local artists at TRU and across Kamloops to discuss the complexities of art, why people make art and how it affects the artist and the viewer.
TRU fine arts student Emma Klimm offered to sit down and talk to the Omega about their journey with art. Klimm is a first-year student in TRU’s fine arts program and has an interest in the deep emotions of humans and enjoys depicting them through pen and pencil. They believe art is about creating something for the sake of creating and should be used as a form of self-expression.
Klimm said they have been doing art for as long as they can remember. “I haven’t always been very good at [art],” Klimm said. “My mom looked at me when I was younger and said, ‘Nope, you’re not going to be an artist,’ and now I’m in school for art. It’s so funny how that works out.”
Klimm advises anyone interested in art not to worry about the finished product and what it looks like but just to create because it brings you joy. “If you want to do art, don’t worry about if it looks good or don’t worry about the end product. It doesn’t need to be pretty. The point of art is to have fun. It’s something people do when they are bored. That’s how people get into it. You don’t need to be good at it for it to be [good], so just don’t stress about it… there is always room for improvement,” Klimm said. “Don’t let it stop you if you suck. We’ve all sucked at some point.”
Klimm told the Omega that they enjoy doing art as a form of self-expression and will create whenever they feel inspired. “I like to incorporate art into everything I do. It’s in the way that I sit and stand and the way that I talk and just the way that I exist in the world,” Klimm said. “I like to be artistic because it makes everything so much prettier and it makes me happy. I do a lot of things with art: I decorate my clothes, I paint my walls, I paint pictures to put on my walls and I draw.”
Klimm has experimented with various art mediums, including collage work, acrylic paint, spray paint, charcoal pencil, graphite pencil and ink pen, producing diverse art pieces through their art classes here at TRU.
When asked about their preferred subject, Klimm revealed it was the human figure. They explained that they enjoyed depicting the human figure because humans experience so much emotion and that it is interesting to capture through art.
“Being an artist and a big fan of philosophy… I think there is so much to people, and there’s a lot to capture in all forms of art and mediums,” Klimm said. “[I like to draw] mostly faces and eyes, and I like to capture some sort of emotion in them. Usually, it’s some sort of uncomfortable emotion like grief, sadness or anger. I focus a lot more on the darker sides of people because human emotion is interesting to me. I feel a lot, so I like to add feelings into my art.”
If you are a local artist and would like to talk about the arts and your work, please contact the Omega’s Arts Editor, Augustus Holman, by email at auggietaylor6284@gmail.com or by phone at 250-351-9676.