Although I would no longer call myself a leftist or activist and aggressively fight under a certain ideology, I still have a lot of significant common ground from which I could listen and dialogue with people who strongly identify themselves in these categories.
For example, I still believe that we need a significant measure of vigilance in terms of consumerism and conserving the environment. The status of women and other marginalized community, particularly the Deaf, still needs to be uplifted. There are issues of “justice” that has to be addressed.
These challenge me. They make me feel uncomfortable because their urgency somehow makes me feel like I need to understand them completely now. They also seem to ask me to make a stand. They do affect how I express myself and make art, being pressured, somehow, to address all things in an artwork.
But here is my synthesis so far:
The goal of my art is to be as authentic as I possibly can. This pursuit becomes a model for others, making it automatically social and therefore political, even if it isn’t explicitly mentioned in the work. So, listen, be open and aware, but remember that you do have a responsibility for yourself, which is equally important.