Mid-Leap, an Open Space for Art

I’ll leave it there, here? On an opening. A point of uncertainty that’s more like a door, a portal to who knows where?

“Staring into the grand abyss, can it be? there is play here too, joy? humor? hmm” — a new artwork in my Whispers Among the Trees series

Dearest Doodle Soupsters,

I’m a multidisciplinary artist — I draw, paint, rip, collage, combine, write (poetry, these soulful reflections on my art and everyday life, fiction, reported non-fiction, interviews, lyrics), sing, play guitar, play piano, write songs, perform …

I’ve been wondering lately, asking myself: what’s the difference between multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary? I get that there are definitions, yes. But what does it mean to me?

At the end of last month, this idea that’s been batting around in my brain, and in my sketchbook, came to life. Cozy concerts! I performed my new album, A wildflower grows in the cracks in the sidewalk, in a garden by the sea with my artwork displayed around me on stage. In between some of the songs, I held up pieces and talked about the connections between the artwork and the music. (If you’d like to see a video of the live performance, it’s on YouTube.)

The word “multidisciplinary” signifies that you work in multiple disciplines. The word “interdisciplinary” means that that you make work that combines disciplines. But I think to me, to be a multidisciplinary artist simply leads to making interdisciplinary work.

My visual art series, Whispers Among the Trees, which I’m still very much in, was inspired by writing a hybrid poetry-prose novella of imagined conversations between a strange human (sweet child of the universe) and a woodland fairy channeling all of existence. And even within that project, I can trace back roots to my Love Letters to Mother Earth, Super Natural, and The Magic of Existence visual art series. Which of course also coincided with lots of poetry, written reflections, and related songwriting.

“Imaginary Waterfall” from my Super Natural series about finding spirituality, insight, and magic (which can feel supernatural) in nature.

“Through my kaleidoscope” from my Love Letters to Mother Earth series.

“Sweet Child of the Universe, Keep Wandering” also from my Love Letters to Mother Earth series.

“Does anybody know?” from The Magic of Existence series. This was the series description — What does it mean to exist? What is the meaning of life? We create meaning. And at the same time, there is a vast, unlimited expanse of what we cannot see, grasp, quantify, or describe. In this series, I seek synthesis for this duality. We don’t have to know in order to find meaning, purpose, or joy in our existence. And we can choose to remain open to what’s unknown. Often, it’s that openness that leaves enough space for magic to happen, to feel touched by something that evades description.

And within the story I wrote (Whispers Among the Trees), the strange human sings to Existence and the words come from the lyrics of songs I wrote, many of which appear on my album, A wildflower grows from the cracks in the sidewalk. And for that performance I mentioned, I wore a cape that I made with my sewing machine and muslin fabric (which has been a material central to many of the Whispers art pieces) as well as painting and drawing symbols and ideas I’ve developed in the visual art series, incorporating lyrics from songs on the album too.

Photo by Alexandra Galvis

I’m also working on a book arts project where I weave together the text of the novella with the visual art series into one piece by handwriting the text and drawing onto muslin fabric.

So what am I trying to say? Why is this coming to mind right now? Multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary, doodleadasicinary, who cares? It’s all art, right?

And you know what? I think that’s kind of my point. I’m creating naturally. There isn’t some grand plan and isn’t that the grand plan? To make something beautiful from the chaos of life? To create using all my senses? To paint with my sense of touch and sight but also with my ears. Listening. Seeing. Feeling. To sing with my physical body, my voice, and with my heart, with my eyes seeing into something that’s there, yet evades definition, requires an approach that leaves something open … that openness is what allows that something to be there. That something cannot be caged. Try to get too specific, too many bounds, too much defining, outlining — it runs away, doesn’t it?

And maybe it’s a weird thing to say but I want to make unpretentious art [blocking off a tangent here! … and maybe that in itself sounds pretentious? but who cares? that’s not the point? trying to get at something here and i’m still trying to get at it, the point? … i looked up/for a definition of pretentious, has to do with inflated importance but I think what I mean is that everything and nothing is important and important is complicated and simple? and trying to make it sound important or be important is what gets in the way sometimes because it already is important and isn’t without any justification. Because art just is amazing and fun and beautiful and meaningful and that freedom to just be, to just create, to share … isn’t it that boldness, that sense of abandon meshed with a connection to soulfulness, to the wordless magic of existence that makes art so ______ ] : art that’s just me being me, seeing what I see, hearing what I hear, doing what comes naturally, asking questions, following my curiosity, experimenting, phoo pow, a little of this, a little of that, woolah, swish, here we go!

And just to be clear, this isn’t not caring whether the art "is good.” It’s seeing that “good art” to me isn’t about twisting myself into knots, writhing, dissecting. And at the same time, sometimes it is. Because sometimes that’s exactly where I’m at and I make some real angry, tortured art and that’s okay. It’s expressing those knots. Catharsis. It’s the honesty?

“Muddying the waters, or scratching the surface?" from my Mixed Emotions series.

“I was drowning, melting into the depths” from my Cycle Breakers series.

“The Lost Boys” from my Mixed Emotions series.

Hey, maybe in contradicting myself, you get what I mean … I’ve touched on this before, the idea that the foundation of existence is co-existing opposites, that the universe is built on paradox … both of these are from my Whispers Among the Trees series …

"Existence is built on paradox, duality, woven together with co-existing opposite( end)s, infinite open threads"

"The universe is a boundless tapestry perpetually in flux and threaded together with co-existing opposites"

I’ll leave it there, here? On an opening. A point of uncertainty that’s more like a door, a portal to who knows where?

Mid-leap of faith,

Nicole Sylvia Javorsky

This post was first sent as a newsletter edition on June 5, 2025 titled, "Chicken Doodle Soup #79: Mid-Leap, an Open Space for Art" — sign up to get your doodle soup delivered right to your inbox!