Artist Feature - Laura
What led you to BTS?
During my last year of med school I was struggling a lot working in the hospital during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and I tried to distract myself by picking up drawing again and learning a new language in my free time. I’ve always wanted to learn a “new” alphabet and I decided to learn Korean. Through this I discovered BTS and I was studying Korean by translating the lyrics from the D-2 album by AgustD. Then I moved on to runBTS and the rest of their discography and that literally saved my university degree as I would watch runBTS episodes after work and listen to their music translating the lyrics to get me through the day.
Who or what sparked your interest in art?
I’ve always made art ever since I can remember. When I was younger there was hardly a day I didn’t draw. Then, as I started to go to University I did not have time for art anymore and I forgot that creative side of me for many years - until my last year of university, where making art helped me to distract myself from the tough days at work and got me through the last couple of months of my university degree. And now I make sure to find the time to draw whenever I can. I’m so much happier now that I’ve started making art again and becoming a part of the art community has had such a huge and positive impact on my life.
What advice would you give those who are interested in art but are hesitant to try it?
Do it. Literally just do it. When I started making art again I had no clue what I was doing but I knew it made me happy so I kept going. Pick an art medium you’re interested in or already comfortable with and start. You don’t have to prove anything to anyone when making art. Not everything you make has to be a masterpiece or needs to be finished. Just have fun with it, that’s all that matters. You don’t have to share everything you create (or anything at all) on social media. For me it took some time to have the courage to share my art but meeting the people I’ve met online through the art I’ve made have been the most wonderful, kind, talented, supportive and amazing humans. They inspire me everyday and it’s been so much fun to grow and learn and make art together with all these lovely people. I am beyond grateful I decided to stop worrying about what other people think and just do what makes me happy.