Interview
Anna Davidson
With roots from the Pacific Northwest, Anna Davidson lives in the love of Oakland, California, as a gay cisgender woman artist, writer, healer, and believer of dreams.
Anna practices in mixed-media collage, photography, and poetry—which has taken life on both the stage and page, including through publication with Passion Passport, Quiet Lightning, Austin International Poetry Festival Anthology 2016, The Raven’s Perch, Respite Zine, Wildwords Zine, Lavender Review Volume 14, Neck Press Review Volume 1, Her Heart Poetry, and within the covers of her first self-published chapbook, Phases of Bone.
Anna’s art and writing are most inspired by relationships, women, bodies, connections in nature, and the journey to see strength in every emotion. She is an avid traveler of world-wide hidden corners—having thus far adventured through fifteen other countries outside the US, almost half of which alone. Anna is most passionate about invoking energetic healing, self-love, and open-heart confidence within youth, women, & the LGBTQIA+ population, through the use of artistic expression and somatic homecoming.
Anna graduated in May of 2021 with her master’s degree in Expressive Arts Therapy from California Institute of Integral Studies. She is currently working as a therapist in an East Oakland K-8 school, while creating her own business on the side, Ocean Heart, getting another poetry manuscript published and beginning her first memoir.
What is your background and how did you start your journey in the art world?
“Ever since I can remember, I have gravitated towards the creative arts as a means for expressing myself. In my childhood, it was drawing, theater, dance, and fashion. By the time I was about thirteen, I began leaning more heavily on creative writing as a means for storytelling. This was around the same age that I started to feel overwhelmed by how deeply I could experience emotions and writing—specifically poetry, became this haven for me to express what I often felt I couldn’t, with just plain language.
Using metaphor and imagery felt like a huge breath of fresh air for my heart and mind. I could relax into the magic of creating life for the feelings I was experiencing through word play. At fifteen, I was introduced to spoken word poetry and began performing my writing on the stage. It was also at this age that I discovered a love for photography and began practicing with black and white manual film.
At seventeen, I became the Poet Laureate for my High School in Seattle, Washington. Once I reached college, I began to study creative writing as a part of my integrative bachelor’s degree program, along with photography and mixed media collage (which for me felt like this beautiful relationship between the two). I continued performing spoken word at community open mics and then eventually found a new confidence for writing on the page after college.
I had my first piece of writing published in 2015 just before moving to the Bay Area—an autobiographical short story for an online travel journal that also featured my travel photography. From there, I began having individual poems published in various anthologies, books, and online journals until 2017, when I self-published my first poetry book, Phases of Bone.
In 2018, I worked as a photography intern for the Women’s Justice Initiative in Guatemala and upon arriving back home, began selling my collages, photography, and poetry book at local markets in Oakland, California, as well as on my own Etsy store online. I am now working to publish my second poetry manuscript, as well as slowly beginning the process of starting a memoir.”
What inspires you?
“I find inspiration in the deep rooted places of the human experience. I am inspired by love, by heartbreak, by spiritual connection, by grief. I am inspired by intimacy and sex (that expands just the physical, into the energetic and transformative). I am inspired by nature… the woods, the ocean, the mountains, and what they have to teach us about living with grace, compassion, and connection. I am inspired by women and bodies and relationships of all kinds—including the ever-evolving relationship to the Self.”
What themes do you pursue? Is there an underlying message in your work?
“Much like where I find inspiration, I pursue themes that explore the emotional, spiritual, and physical human experience. Whether through writing, mixed-media, or photography, I lean into visual metaphors that encourage a deep dive into the heart. I think that speaks to the message that comes through with my creative work, although I don’t believe it’s ‘underlying’. I see it as presently in focus—the invitation to hold every possible human emotion and experience as worthy and necessary.”
“I am drawn to what's underneath the surface - what needs to be said, what isn't being said, and the wildness of finding refuge in freeing ourselves (to feel it all).”
How would you describe your work?
“Heart-centered. Raw. Authentic. Passionate. Attentive. Detailed. Therapeutic (for me). Attuned to moments that may be deemed ‘small’ or emotions that may be seen as ‘too much’ by the world, but in truth, tell a lineage of stories worth slowing down for.”
What artists influence you most?
“I’ve always been inspired by Audre Lorde. I also have had my mind blown by the way Saul Williams plays with words. In general, I feel most inspired and influenced by female artists, writers, musicians, and creatives who are breaking bounds and honoring their wild vulnerability as power.”
What is your creative process like?
"My creative process is emotion-centered. It’s fluid. It requires solitude and space. It adapts to various creative forms depending on my needs of the moment, my energy levels, and what I am most called to at the time. It welcomes stumbling and mess. It feels like one of my oldest, most comforting homes. And it is where I go to find myself over & over again.”
What is an artist’s role in society and how do you see that evolving?
“I believe everyone is an artist. I believe by nature, we are creative beings and often the things that foster our creativity, such as imagination, play and vulnerability, get taught out of us or discouraged by our capitalist society. With that said, I believe someone who has committed themselves to their artistic and creative self, has therefore also committed themselves to a life centering growth, activism, and expansion.”
“I believe art has the power to create connection, to empower love, to heal wounds, to communicate, and to change this world—from the deep insides of the Self to the outer landscape of our collective universe.”
Have you had any noteworthy exhibitions you'd like to share?
“Upon first publishing my poetry book in 2017, it was being sold at two stores in Oakland, California, in addition to the city's local markets, along with my art and photography. Now my book can be found through my Etsy store, which also features some of my mixed-media collages (all of which are one of a kind).
Aside from Phases of Bone, my creative writing and poetry can also be found through the publications listed in my bio as well as on my Instagram (linked below). I am incredibly honored to have a portion of my photography be in the hands of the Women's Justice Initiative to help promote the powerful work they are doing for Indigenous communities surrounding Patzún, Guatemala. I am so grateful for all the presses, places, and people that have supported my work thus far and look forward to seeing where my creative spirit ventures next...”
