Ashley Arbelaez/Contributing Writer
Author, artist, speaker, host, advocate- you name it. Octavia Yearwood does it all, but she believes labels are superficial in describing who someone really is. Instead, she chooses to describe herself as a conceptual artist, meaning the majority of her work originates from her mind. She also describes herself as a person who embraces freedom.
This past Thursday, the Frost Art Museum hosted a talk with Yearwood, in which she spoke about her work and answered questions from the audience.
Yearwood kicked off her talk by asking the audience to stand up and find someone they weren’t acquainted with. She then instructed the pairs to ask each other, “Who are you?” The responses were only to be one-word answers. Through this exercise she encouraged everyone to be more comfortable with the idea of themselves. Yearwood based the rest of her talk on the inner self, as well as the themes of childhood, education and community.
Through her work, Yearwood is able to help bridge the gap between education and the arts. She uses the principles of childhood, education and community to expand her work and be able to help others through it.
“I never thought I would be where I’m at right now; this was never a goal,” said Yearwood. “I never really had a goal back then to speak at a university or to curate for a major city or any of those things. But what I did do is allow myself to be open to whatever.”
Determined to change her life purpose, Yearwood planned a trip to India and Nepal in 2014. On her trip, she was able to teach children from all different types of economic backgrounds. Once she came back to the United States, she realized that money wasn’t everything and had to change her focus.
“Once I took money off my mind, I used art to heal people intentionally,” said Yearwood.
One of the ways Yearwood is able to use art to heal people is through her company, Team Ohhh, which was created over a concept of youth empowerment and dance. Essentially, Team Ohhh uses dance to teach today’s youth self-expression.
“When I think of healing in the way of children, I realize they have a lack of experience, but not of emotions or desire,” said Yearwood. “The work I do with the youth is to empower them to push through challenges and raise their self-efficacy so they can see that they can do whatever they want to.”
Yearwood is a strong believer in self-love and feels that everyone should get in touch with their inner selves to grow. She now has goals to empower, heal and move people with her words, art and soul.
“Self-growth is a huge component in growing and scaling as an artist,” said Yearwood. “If you don’t know your worth you will never be able to provide, and this world is all about providing for one another.”
For more information on Octavia Yearwood’s work, visit OctaviaYearwood.com
You can also follow Yearwood’s journey on her Instagram: @Octavia_Yearwood
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