“Art is not quantifiable, it’s just beautiful.”: Teresa Donck Interviewed by Mika Manning

Like all of us studying art at SFU, Art Performance and Cinema Studies Student, Teresa Marie Donck is still trying to figure out where and how art can exist in her life. She spoke to me over Zoom from her childhood home in 100 Mile House, BC about why she is choosing to study art, who her inspirations are and what she thinks is an artistic outlook on life. 

M: What prompted you to study art?

T: I've always been really interested in art as a concept. When I was 10, I googled “what is art?” Because I wanted a definition. After printing off pages and pages and pages of stuff on the internet (when I was 10 that seemed like a good idea) I ended up with a stack of papers and I realized that it was going to take a really long time to figure out the answer to my question. I think what fascinates me about art is that it's such a broad concept that can't be contained in a definition. But at the same time, art is so universally understood by people all over the world and it connects to that inner core of humanity. That's what really drew me to study art.

M: Do you think that studying art and making art could be somewhat connected? Almost as if they are one in the same. 

T: I think making art does help us to understand art. Actually, in Claudette’s class, 210W, we were lucky enough to be able to go to a photography exhibit. We went through this exercise of exploring this exhibition and then taking our own photographs. This exercise reminded me how important it is to make art in order to try and understand it. Also, it was a good reminder about how much we can learn about art through creative process.

M: Is there an artist that inspires you the most? 

T: There are a lot of authors that inspire me and I'm currently reading Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer and it's super inspiring. In high school I was really inspired by Annie Leibovitz. She’s kind of my idol! I lived in this small town and I wasn't even out as gay then and here was this out photographer woman who was just pushing the boundaries of portraiture in her time. (Sighing) I find inspiration to be tricky. I guess if I had to define it, I would say that it’s people or things that make you believe that you can be something great. 

M: I agree, and I feel as though inspiration can be about developing connections, and a shared personal experience and that this shared personal experience has the potential to shift perspectives or assist people in their life.

T: Yeah, I try to remember this if I'm scared of doing something and I'm worried about being rejected, criticized or thought of as weird or whatever. I just try to think that doing something, even if it's outlandish, gives others permission to do it too, or to do something that they feel scared about.

M: What do you think is an artistic outlook on life?

T: I come from a family of artists so I feel like when I hear this question, I think of all the artists I know and I wonder; “what is their outlook on life?” I think an artistic outlook on life is to be optimistic enough to think that there'll be a tomorrow, that people will continue to be interested in your work and there's still going to be things like curiosity and wonder in the world. 

M: You mentioned that you come from a family of artists, could you elaborate on that a bit more?

T: My stepfather is a photographer and my parents built a new home and an art gallery in 2003. My mom doesn't really identify as an artist but she and my stepdad have created this life of art together. My brother is a poet and burlesque performer and he and his wife perform together. I actually kind of grew up in a gallery environment and that's really been a big influence on me. I'm really grateful for that environment because I think people are really intimidated by galleries. I didn't realize that for a long time, because it was so normal for me. 

M: So, art was already really rooted in your life and wasn't something that you needed to search for but was already floating around in the atmosphere of your childhood.

T: Yeah, and because it was so rooted it took me a while to figure out that art is something that I could just do, you know? I mean, I'm still kind of figuring out how art can exist in my life. I think that I finally figured out that it's the artistic process and deconstructing art that has the 

most interest for me. That's kind of why I feel like I am okay with saying I'm not really an artist even though maybe I do practice art, it's not for the purpose of making something. I practice art for the purpose of understanding and deconstructing it.

M: Do you believe that to for someone to be called an artist, they need an artistic practice?

T: I think almost anyone can identify themselves as an artist. I just think that I'm not one. I feel like my job is to facilitate and allow space for artists. My dream is to create an artist centre that people can just come to and create stuff. No, I don't think that you need a concrete practice and this is honestly the meat of why I find art so interesting, when people say something is so good, they say it's beyond the technique or it's an art not a science. Art is not quantifiable, it's just beautiful.