Meet Esther Staley | Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Esther Staley and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Esther, what do you think makes you most happy? Why?
Aside from the wonderful people in my life whom I hold so much love for, creating all forms of art brings me such unimaginable happiness, I’m constantly reminded that we were put on this earth to create and consume art in any form with each breath I take. My artistic journey has taken me down countless roads and I try to keep up with each of them as much as possible, no matter how much it runs me thin. When asked what I create, and what I consider myself an artist of, it’s difficult to figure out an answer. While I wear many hats, there isn’t one I prefer over the other. Rather than being an artist of a specific medium, I’m an artist whose medium is creating. Whatever medium I choose, the feeling is the same in my heart: joy. I feel myself getting sucked into whatever I’m creating, becoming a computer for half a day or a pencil or a keyboard. That out-of-body feeling is the closest I’ve experienced to pure happiness.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
In terms of where I might be in my journey professionally, I’d say I’m still in the beginning stages. I don’t look at my art and see it as something professional, but rather an outlet. I use art to get the energy inside myself out, which hasn’t been an easy journey. Over the years, I’ve found myself at a standstill with my art, specifically when I draw, and was unable to create anything, because I could not stop worrying about what others thought of my creations. As I kept pushing myself harder, I slowly I realized that it doesn’t matter what the response might be to something I create, all that matters is that I’m unapologetically creating and showing my art to whoever would like to view it. An audience is not important to me, instead, I focus on just getting my art outside of my head, posting when I choose, and not expecting or wanting any kind of response. At first, I would feel overcome with anxiety, constantly refreshing my story to see who else viewed it since the last time I refreshed 10 seconds ago, terrified thinking about what might be on their mind. I think it took about three years of specifically working on feeling better towards publicly showing my art that I started doing it consistently, starting with my synth production journey in 2023. Nothing helped put these struggles behind me more than forcing myself to do the things I felt uncomfortable doing: live DJing, posting drawings, writings, and photographs, among other things. The only thing holding me back from doing what I wanted to do was myself. I had to break down the wall I had built in front of myself to get my art across to someone else. To connect their existence to mine. Each time I performed, even though anxiety would be bubbling in my stomach, I would meet the eyes of whoever was watching, even though my heart might jump for a moment, and I would feel calm knowing that I’d fought so hard to be in that moment. I’ve realized that it’s so admirable to put yourself out there, even posting things on social media is intimidating and an accomplishment.
If there’s one thing that my story is meant to convey it’s that this life is beautiful. Growing up, I taught myself to be less emotional, less reactive, less me. It caused the world to dull in my eyes and the beautiful world I saw the day before was no longer there. It seemed as though someone had lowered the saturation on my vision and it remained like that for quite some time. It wasn’t until recently, a couple of years ago, I felt myself wake up, and decide that I deserve to live the life I’m given in the way I want to live it, just as everyone else does. I want to connect to others with my art, bringing our existences together for even just a second, which holds so much meaning to me. Recently, I put out my first album “Journey To The Soul” and stories that accompanied each track and it served as a medium between the listener or reader and me. This journey of mine is one I’m taking with everyone personally in my life, along with those who listen to my music. Together, we take the first steps to truly living our lives the way they’re meant to be lived by allowing ourselves to exist as we are without any judgments or limitations.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
If I was restricted to places only within my city, I’m not sure I’d be able to plan a week-long vacation, but if I was able to travel all over Ohio, I would be able to make something special. There are a few restaurants that we definitely will find ourselves at, like Fuji Sushi getting hotpot or Burntwood Tavern daydrinking. On our more relaxed days, I’d be able to plan hikes for the two of us. Bridal Veil Falls and the ledges in Cuyahoga are two of my favorites, something magical happens when you share someplace so meaningful to you with someone who means just as much. Somewhere along the line, I’m sure we would find ourselves drinking the night away at one of the many bars downtown, George’s Lounge holds a special place in my heart. If we have time, we could drive down to Columbus and explore downtown, going through the shops, stopping at Forno for dinner and drinks before going to Kung Fu Tea, and driving home. If we aren’t too worn out from the constant activities, we should also squeeze in a trip to Cleveland. I’ve been wanting to try out LJ Shanghai, so we could stop there for food before catching a show at Mahall’s. We would end the night by getting some more boba at Moon Cat and staring out at the lake from Lakewood Park before we decide to tough out the hour-long drive home. There are countless places that I would love to share with someone that I doubt we would be able to get through it in one week.. Hopefully my best friends comes back so we can continue our adventure!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
If there’s anyone I have to thank for getting to this point in my life, it would be my Mom. She has been such an important person in my life and I am so grateful for every moment I get to have with her. Aside from my Mom, I’d love to thank my amazing sister Annamay, and my beautiful friends, specifically Taryn, who has been with me through so much in the past few years. Every one of my friends has played a part in helping me become the person I am today though and I spend every moment wondering how I became so lucky.

Website: https://morialive.neocities.org/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/morialive

Other: https://morialive.bandcamp.com/

Image Credits
Pictures of me are taken by my friends, Taryn Gilbert (4th image) and Lucas Haldane (7th image). Others are edited and drawn by me (Esther Staley.)