Jelena Aleksich: On Creativity
Marianna
What sources of inspiration do you use to foster creativity in your work?
Jelena
During the latter part of my twenties, I became very particular about who I was around because energy is extremely contagious and spaces can enhance or subtract from your aliveness. A lot of this happened accidentally as I went full time growing The Confetti Project, where I was able to ask strangers deep, inquisitive questions like: why do you get out of bed in the morning? What do you celebrate right now? What are your passions and pleasures? I was always that curious kid that skipped small talk.
As an adult, I know my most cherished memories are deep conversations with other fellow humans. I learn so much from storytelling and connecting with others. What I read, watch, see, hear, consume - directly parallels my life. I'm an aficionado of creative escapism. So it wouldn't be a surprise to share that I try to read a book a week and am on a lifelong mission to watch every single Oscar movie ever nominated. Which for the record is 3,000+. Ultimately, we're all storytellers and I will forever seek hearing someone else's story.
Marianna
Do you experiment in your work? How would you describe your creative process?
Jelena
I would argue that creativity is experimentation. It's not a fixed process that lives in absolutes. In order to grow and learn, being flexible is required to adapt, innovate, uplevel.
Every milestone idea I've had - that's paved a new lane in my work and essentially helped it survive - has been birthed through challenge. My dad died and I decided to go full-time with confetti. I got f*cked over with my first brand partnership and I decided to create a new monthly Open Studios format in my studio - that became the main consistent revenue stream for a while.
The pandemic is happening right now so I pressed play on finally designing my first product - something I had always wanted to do. Right now, I'm in the midst of actualizing that as I piece all the elements together and debut it very soon - around my father's 4-year deathiversary. My biggest compass with my creative process is being guided by my intuition - but, first: creating a healthful space for myself so I can even hear my intuition in the first place.
In order to do that, I asked myself: what ways do I go on auto-pilot? What are learned habits, thought patterns, compulsions, obsessions that help me cope when I want to numb myself or take a break from life? Once I saw that binge eating, sleep procrastination and physical idleness fostered negative self-talk and a feeling of emotional paralysis - I began to be aware of the deeper meaning behind those actions.
Working through the uphill mountains we create for ourselves makes me more in the moment. Once I'm present, everything and anything can happen.
Marianna
Do you have a routine for entering into a creative headspace?
Jelena
Yes, especially since my livelihood and professional career rely on it. Music and coffee fuel me - I'm not saying they're necessary to be creative but, if being creative is most/all of your job and you need to go really deep on a schedule, it accelerates the process of me stepping into an alternate dimension of focus.
When I wrote my first book last winter, it was about the year I began The Confetti Project while losing my father to cancer and the aftermath of that grief and loss. The majority of the writing happened between the hours of 10pm-6am. I needed the quiet and darkness to relive some of the most painful and joyous parts of my life. Big surprise: it was more time consuming than I expected. But not because of writing hundreds of words every day.
The process of being in a place of absolute truth - the prerequisite to creating - was time-consuming. I found myself putting headphones on and getting dressed up in whatever mood I was in (lipstick can instantly take me there). I'll either engage in some dancing - getting lost in some movement therapy - or I'll literally sit in front of the mirror and lip-synch songs from my "pretend" playlist.
Either scenario usually elicits a moment where I "break." I cry and am instantly transported to a place that's so viscerally raw - like I'm in the same dimension as my ancestors - and that's when I begin creating from the heart. A portal of unveiling if you will.
Marianna
What does creativity mean to you?
Jelena
It is individuality. Inspiration. Innovation. Imagination. I literally just listed those nouns from the dictionary because when I think of creativity, it's mythical and supernatural to a certain degree. It moves humanity forward. Changes the world. It's my eternal passion and the tool for how I walk into my inner and outer worlds on a daily basis.
Marianna
What are the unexpected turns your life took to lead you to become who you are today?
Jelena
Being alive for 30 years now, I'm realizing that everything holds a degree of unexpectedness, you know? The biggest milestone in my life was my father dying when I was 26, which officially ended the first chapter of my life.
Losing the person that I was closest to and who was a large part of my identity, while extremely painful, catapulted me into a heightened degree of consciousness that constantly reminds me that none of us are getting out of this alive. It's influenced my methodology with my work: that our pain and pleasure will always be inextricably linked so we have to celebrate it all.
Every opportunity is an opportunity to celebrate. Being alive is a celebration. I don't want anyone to wait for tragedy or trouble to be awake to your life. Or, for someone to get to the end of their life and regret that they didn't try to find gratitude in each moment, no matter what it brought. That's the ethos of who I am and part of the reason why I believe I'm here. If someone told me that I would be inspiring that sentiment with confetti, I would have never believed it. As humans, our entire existence is the unknown and while we can try to control the present or plan for the future, ultimately our intentions are always mixed with how we adapt to life happening to us.
Marianna
What creative accomplishments are you most proud of?
Jelena
I guess I'm supposed to say the fact that I've been working on The Confetti Project full time for five years. People have reminded me of the magnitude of that achievement but it's hard for me to acknowledge it because I don't feel like I have a choice most of the time. It's my life's work. A big part of why I'm here. There's no scenario where I'm not giving it my all so it can grow.
Early on, I adopted the metaphor that it's like a brainchild. My first one that requires kindness, patience, focus, sacrifice, and a plethora of many, many other things. Within that, there are definitely milestones that I look back on fondly where I had to creatively problem-solve to keep the work alive and naturally evolve it.
Marianna
Where do you think ideas come from?
Jelena
When you're present, paying attention and in a place of absolute truth. If you're curious, every moment of your life can be a backdrop for inspiration. Being a human is so complex. Existing within the world at large is so complex. I'm constantly exploring with my senses and trying to find connections between it all. They’re always there - if you're ready and mindful to receive it.
Marianna
What do you think is something that the most creative people in the world have in common?
Jelena
Using their entire life as inspiration. When you identify with being an artist and using your creativity to make the world a better place, you don't clock out. It's a fabric of your soul. Most creative people feel the sacredness of that.
Marianna
When do your best ideas hit you?
Jelena
Typically, when it gets dark. My mind can be a little jello during the day - especially around 4 pm when I'm in my own little mental siesta mode. Anytime I move and exercise, ideas come to me or answers to ideas I've been marinating on.
Marianna
Do you use a process to come up with ideas?
Jelena
It's a delicate balancing of being in a place to welcome ideas but also letting them arrive and crystalize on their own. I'll get hints of ideas - little specks of visions - that I usually know I need to continue on with if they keep coming up and won't go away. They're kept in the back of my mind, where they organically begin to gain more clarity.
This is where I would do research, which would mold and enhance whatever I was initially thinking. I think ideas are always a marriage of inspiration and research. That's what leads to the most important step: taking action. Executing your ideas. When you act on an idea, sometimes it can feel like such a flow that I will forget when or how I came up with the idea in the first place. It's all-consuming. The idea is just the beginning. Everything after requires discipline, focus, and persistence.
Marianna
How do you make sense of chaos in your life?
Jelena
I take it day by day and remind myself that everything is fleeting, including how I feel. Being aware of what triggers you is important too, so you can feel an eternal state of homeostasis within you, no matter what is going on. Obviously, it's harder said than done and it'll always be a process. Part of me finds such beauty in chaos and struggle because I find them to be uncovered lessons. I'm always trying to figure out what I was meant to learn from everything that happens.
Right before the pandemic - a day before my father's birthday - a year-long lawsuit was settled within my family that created a lot of strife between everyone involved. It was ugly and looming stress that brought up my father's memory in a melancholic way. During that time, I definitely had a few tipping points but, for the majority of it, I tried to shower myself with things that made me feel good. Stepping into my own world (where I self-quarantined often pre-pandemic) and establishing a routine of some sort always gives me shine. Surrendering to the things you can't control always helps too.
Marianna
Why do you think people get stuck on problems?
Jelena
I can only speak for myself but I think the nucleus of it is fear. It activates something within you, where you can feel helpless, powerless, paralyzed to take action, or move forward with it. The longer you fester in that energy, the more emotionally stagnant we become, where our fear can begin to dictate our actions.
I always try to do one thing a day that scares - something that gets my heart rate up, makes me feel terrifyingly excited - and sometimes, that can simply be calling someone or doing that thing that has been at the bottom of your to-do list for weeks. Anytime I have resistance, I try to move it through my body, open things up, clear things out. The idea of something can be scarier than the reality of it.
————————
About Jelena Aleksich:
Jelena Aleksich is a visual storyteller with a background in Psychology and Design. She created The Confetti Project: a photography experience that profiles humans in pounds of confetti while exploring what they celebrate in their lives.
After photographing 5,000+ people, it's evolved into an initiative that reminds us that being alive is the celebration. She's worked with many big-name brands and taken her work to numerous places but what she cares about most is deeply connecting with as many humans as possible while giving them space to fully let go to the present and be comfortable being vulnerable.
Right now, she's about to debut her first product - Confettigrams - a big envelope of mixed confetti with prompts that serve as a reminder of how celebration can be intertwined within all of our experiences - and does weekly quarantine giveaways on Instagram.