In a society obsessed with optimization, marketability and specialization, Rebecca Caridad, Queen of the Craft, rebels by containing multitudes. Steadfast from an early age in her multiplicity, she has rejected the common path of “choosing just one thing” by developing her own process and personal growth through widening. Her garden of artistic mediums and creative skillsets is unconcerned with perfection, diverse, and exploding with color and life.
-So! You are a Photographer, a small-batch makeup line creator, a visual artist and a poet - am I missing anything?
I’ve spent time with writing, photography, painting, crochet, punch needle, calligraphy, weaving, I am a planner enthusiast, I love reading, I make QUEENIE balm, I’ve designed a sketchbook easel that I call the CARI, and most recently I have been nose diving into learning to knit.
-Is there any one of these creative mediums that you identify most with? Any one that anchors you to art and to yourself more deeply than the others?
I often hyperfixate when I find a new interest. I like to put my head down and research non stop, gather all the supplies, watch all the videos, and read all of the books. Sometimes [they] are short lived and others have been lifelong explorations. My longest relationships have been with writing, visual art, photography, and fiber art. I’ve had a photography business since I was in my mid twenties that I was lucky enough to travel all around the world with, I’ve written pretty much every day since I was a young teenager, I’ve had some kind of relationship to drawing and painting since I was a baby, and one of my best friends taught me how to crochet when I was in middle school. So, I guess the answer to your question is not really, I feel really connected to all of these identities and have learned so much about myself and the world through them.
-With all this wonderful creativity, I can’t help but picture you as a kid - you must have been zooming around the art table in school! How did you get started? Did it begin with one craft or have you always been multifaceted?
I am the oldest daughter of 9 kids so there was always a lot going on in our house. My first encounters with creativity were drawing and painting. [Art] was a quiet activity that I could do in any corner, it was something that I received praise for from my family, and I was surrounded by creative people. I was lucky enough to grow up in Brooklyn, NY in the 80’s and 90’s to a really artistic mother who always fostered her kids creativity.
-Are you a juggler or a farmer? Meaning, do you tend to balance these crafts all at once or do you plant your projects throughout the seasons, each given their own time?
I used to feel like if I was writing then I was betraying my painting practice or if I was painting I was rejecting my reader identity or if I was reading I was abandoning my fiber art projects. Once I realized that all of these mediums actually fed each other I was able to relax around these ideas. Now, I find that I have seasons. My other mediums usually come and go as I feel inspired. Colder months usually make me gravitate toward fiber art and painting in the studio, while warmer weather makes me want to get out and plein air paint. Luckily my love of photography is usually the way that I share whatever I am working on. I’d be lying if I didn’t wish I had more time.
-I, too, am a multi-hobby creative and I find that it can be difficult to avoid comparing myself to others who seem to be capable of “sticking to one thing”. In a culture so fixated on specialization and “branding”, how do you find the continued confidence to create at your own rhythm and whim?
I have a memory of telling my father all the things I wanted to be when I grew up and he told me that if I wanted to get good at something I’d have to choose one thing. I can still feel how my ENTIRE body rejected that idea. To this day, I still vehemently reject this idea that we have to choose one medium. First, I’ll say I don’t care about being “good” at something. Not to say I don’t strive to learn, because I do and I really value that. I care about making time to be creative, in whatever medium feels most inspiring to me at that time in my life.
For me, the most magical part of being creative is not what I make, but the way the act of creating brings me face to face with myself in the present moment.
I remember times when my fear of not getting something right would make me not want to do it at all. What a loss. It's not just a loss for the creator, but it's a loss for the rest of us that could have seen that expression and benefited from it in some way.
I truly believe that if everyone had some kind of creative practice the world would be a much more compassionate and accepting place. To have a committed creative practice you can’t help but find compassion and acceptance for yourself and your limitations. It’s a hard relationship to explore and in my opinion one of the most important.
I’ve made hundreds of bad paintings now and none of those paintings have killed me. If anything it’s made me a better painter. Creativity offers so many opportunities for failure and discomfort and I think that’s where the magic is, where we grow.
I feel really connected to all of these identities and have learned so much about myself and the world through them.
Once I realized that all of these mediums actually fed each other I was able to relax around these ideas.
I truly believe that if everyone had some kind of creative practice, the world would be a much more compassionate place. To have a committed creative practice you can’t help but find acceptance for yourself and your limitations.