◯ We all inhabit several selves. They are not always loud and they are not always present, but they are. When the time presents itself, different versions step forward to deal with different situations. Whether it’s for protection, inclusion, work, survival, entertainment or love, we tackle it with one of our various selves. Regress is my unfiltered artistic self, doing whatever the fuck it wants. When it’s in control, the rest of my various selves are just going along for the ride .

Regress is a result of a discussion with a friend. We were discussing professional burnout and creative exhaustion, and lamented the unfiltered creative freedom we and others had at earlier points in our life, in particular, the explorative days of university and a short window of creative confidence that comes shortly there after. We whined about things, complained about others and hungered for the bravado and energy of our creative youth. Then I said, ‘fuck it!’ And I turned to old inspiration. I created some pieces reminiscent of my younger self, I listened to music from that era and I embraced a ‘who gives a fuck’ attitude towards what I made. If it was good, great! If not, who gives a fuck! I stopped creating for ‘now’ and regressed back to my younger self. It was there I re-found my unfiltered artistic self, and from that came something new.

Go back to go forward. I’m sure Yoda said something like that to Luke. And if it’s good enough for Yoda, well, it’s good enough for everyone.