Artistic "Self"

This one is tricky. i was a real shy kid and mostly just listened, now i am little more outspoken and feel that even though my thoughts and knowledge is not absolute and may often be wrong, discourse is key to survival and prosperity. I like to see how art work affects people when they don't know who did it, it causes the viewer to make assumptions about the artist based solely on the work. I used to go by Ray Simpson and when i would meet people who had seen mywork they would be surprised that i was female. Does it change the art itself that i am male or feamale? it certainly does change the world's perception. i don't think you can look at someone and know who they really are, you know what they want you to sometimes if you are paying close attention you may see something more private.
In order to survive we must adapt, this means to me that we grow and change shedding our old selves and constantly resurfacing who we are. In the world today artist self seems to be agood bit about celebrity status and marketing, cool people doing cool art wearing cool clothes. this is the world of media but some of the most talented artist i have met do not look the part so i demand a recast of the artist self to be determined by each individual artist themselves. If we seek our true selves through life and art we may find something that is constanly evolving and changing.
"Darkness, call me brother! that i may not fear which I seek." -Anonymous