Four years ago, if you'd met McNeeley and told him he would be an artist for a living, he would have laughed you right out of the building. It was a random conversation with a friend in 2019, who could only repay him for a favor in art supplies, and a little encouragement from said friend, that he took a chance and tried his hand at painting. A few years and a few mental setbacks later, Elijah is finding his flow again and holding on tightly. We caught up and discussed what's powering this new-found creative abundance and how he's been able to harness it, explore all the possibilities, and be open to what the universe has in store for him.
One of the biggest challenges with being an artist, especially when one has decided to pursue it full time, is balancing the creative pursuits with a certain level of discipline, one that pours over into all aspects of life. It starts with the little things, Elijah tells me. Making the bed, hitting the gym, consciously getting into the studio every day; he's recognizing how interconnected it all is and conducive to the creative process, it's not compartmentalized.
"I can't always control creativity or inspiration, but I can control how hard I work and the effort I put in", he says. The more discipline he has, the more freedom he has to create, and he doesn't want to take his foot off the pedal anytime soon. His goal is to mitigate the peaks valleys that will naturally ebb and flow as it relates to momentum, through maintaining the feeling he's getting by showing up every day without fail and what is produced as a result of that consistency.
As we dove into the evolution of his recent work, he's excited to speak more about how proud he is of his art and how it's changed this year. In the beginning of 2023, he had his first solo exhibition in connection a restaurant showcasing an artist and their work with a tailored menu to match. What should have been joyful and compelling, filled him with despair, it felt manufactured. That feeling of despair and inauthenticity made him quickly despise art, which in turn grew into defeat. He saw the first out and tried to take it, going through great lengths to rid himself of his art supplies and leave the artist life behind him.
What he didn't expect and what he absolutely needed, was to miss creating art, and he did, more than he could bear. He knew if he were going to recommit, he'd need to avoid burnout and manufacturing the work, he'd need to rediscover his passion with authenticity.
"That was the first click in the dial to open the safe", he tells me. He got back in touch with the gallery he had a relationship with in Chicago, turned out a few pieces that sold immediately, and began to get some pep in his step again artistically. This gave him a newfound appreciation for what it would take, although self-doubt had its way of trying to creep in yet again. With his inner critic still on his shoulder, he stuck with it, began experimenting, seeing new shapes in his work, new characters, new life, and a different perspective than he'd ever seen in his art prior, and just like that, the scales finally fell from his eyes.
"I was able to finally see my artwork for more than good or bad, or sellable or not sellable, or sad, or pretty or ugly or mad...I got to see behind it, these amazing shapes." This led him to feverishly trace and track all the characters he saw, filling him with endless inspiration of new characters, ones he could begin to carry over to the next piece of art. Now as he sits in his studio while we chat, surrounded by these characters, he sees them completely, their unique shapes, weird and funky, but connected, they all tell a story, even more, they're resonating with his audience. He's started receiving compliments from people who inspire him, his peers, other artists, and those who he trusts and looks up to.
"When you're stretching and evolving, doing things differently than most people in this world, it helps to receive a little validation." Most of all, his mom is excited and lit up over his work, and that's everything to him, it keeps the momentum going.
This naturally led us to speak about intuition as a creative, as it seems so clear that's what's driving the vehicle currently. He tells me, "It's not something that goes away, it's something that atrophies. It's like a muscle, and if you're not listening to it, it starts to shrivel up and that voice gets quieter and quieter."
McNeeley is electing to let go and letting the intuition lead the way. He's now chasing success in nonmaterial form through the happiness, joy, and fulfillment that comes from following his intuition; a word so impactful for him, it may inspire his first tattoo.
As a classic overthinker, he's excited and rejuvenated by the space he's in because he's not thinking, he's not trying to control it any one way, he's able to just move and flow and explore within the canvas, and that's why these pieces are naturally growing into a bigger and bigger playground. He's created a whole new world, and as cliche as it sounds, he feels like he's just a vessel. Nothing around him matters except what's in front of him on the canvas, being in that zone, that space; so much that he can spend 8-12 hours in studio without noticing the passing of time.
To sum up the prolific period he's currently creating from: "I've captured it. It's in my bottle and I'm holding on for dear life. I have no idea where these pieces are going, and I love every minute of it. There's no moment that's ever the same, that's a trap, you can't recreate a moment, it's not possible. I'm incredibly grateful that I've had this click, this shift, and now I get to enjoy coming in and not knowing what I want to do, because every little stroke has yet to be revealed. It's crazy, mind shifting vision, it's unexplainable, and I can't explain how good it feels. I want to bottle it and give it to everyone to feel. It's such a freeing way to be. I can't wait to keep doing this. I feel like I could go on forever."
That's his story with painting. "We all created from the time when we were kids, but it's about harnessing that creative as an adult, never stopping being a dreamer. I wish I could encourage everyone...try that thing, that hobby, that creative expression...you never know what could hit, you never know if your life will change forever."
You can find Elijah McNeeley, aka "dripthro", and his work here:
Represented by Virgil Catherine Gallery, Chicago, IL
(@dripthro)
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